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COFMRIGHT DEPOSIT, 


















HYGIENE AND HEALTH 













Copyright Underwood & Underwood 


Strike One! 


This young athlete has three things all boys and girls 
need—health, strength and skill 








HYGIENE AND HEALTH SERIES 


Hygiene and Health 

BOOK ONE 


By 

CHARLES P. EMERSON 

Dean and Professor of Medicine, Indiana University 

School of Medicine 

and 

GEORGE HERBERT BETTS 

Northwestern University 
Evanston, Illinois 


ILLUSTRATED 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 



Copyright, 1919, 1921, 1922, 1923, 
By The Bobbs-Merrill Company 



Printed in the United States of America 


r 

*• 


♦ 


© ♦ 
• f> • 


PRINTERS AND BINDERS 



AIIC 22 ’23 

©C1A752G36 


I 









INTRODUCTION 




t 




The distinguishing feature of Hygiene and Health is its 
outstanding aim and plan of causing the pupils to form right 
habits of physical living. In order to achieve this end, they 
must be led from day to day to do the things that lead to 
health and vigor, and to avoid the things that injure and 
weaken. 


Each lesson therefore provides for certain suitable activ¬ 
ities to be carried out. The children are asked to learn by 
doing , which is not only good pedagogy, but even better hygiene. 
The exercises provided are an integral part of the text, and are 
of the practical sort that find a setting in the daily life of every 
child. A skilful carrying out of the many simple experiments 
and projects given will not only bring zest and motive to the 
work, but will .serve to carry the facts learned over into every¬ 
day practise. The wise teacher will, therefore, bend every 
effort to make the lessons take hold from day to day as they 
are taught. She will measure her success by the extent to which 
the children live better physically, here and now, because of the 
lessons learned, and by the extent to which they are forming 
right hygienic habits as they are passing through the text. 

Those familiar with the texts in this field will note the 
avoidance in the present volume of two extremes: first, the 
over-emphasis on physiology and anatomy which character¬ 
izes the older type of text; and, second , the equally dangerous 
method of certain more recent texts, which offer a collection 
of mere stories and illustrations combined with sets of hygienic 
rules. This book stresses hygienic practise above all else, but 
does not fail to give the underlying facts and explanations for 
which the child’s mind is at this stage ready, and which his 
curiosity demands. While immediate habits of right living are 
the great aim sought, the pupil is, step by step, led to an intel¬ 
ligent understanding of his own body and the laws which 
govern its welfare. The authors offer this volume as one small 
contribution to the present national movement to build up a 
better physical basis of life for our nation. 

The material in Chapter XXXI, on Good Health Games at 
end of book, should be used throughout the school term. 

The Authors. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Grateful acknowledgments are made to the fol¬ 
lowing organizations for permission to use photo¬ 
graphs supplied by them: the National Tubercu¬ 
losis Association, for pictures appearing on pages 
5, 7, 23, 25, 26, 28, 30, 111, 123; the Massachusetts 
Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, for 
pictures appearing on pages 17, 43, 52, 97, 98; the 
National Girl Scouts, for the picture appearing on 
page 50; the Committee on Public Information, 
for the picture appearing on page 110; the Indiana 
State Board of Health, for the picture appearing 
on page 80, and the Boston Public Schools for the 
pictures appearing on pages 134 and 136. 

The Authors. 


CHAPTER 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I Making Our Habits Our Friends . . 1 

II Ready for “Inspection”. 8 

III Health, Size and Growth .... 16 

IV Health Crusaders.22 

V The Body’s Need of Food.32 

VI What We Eat.41 

VII Planning Our Meals.49 

VIII Learning to Eat.59 

IX Good and Bad Microbes. 65 

X Protecting Our Food from Microbes . 72 

XI Why We Should Get Rid of Flies . . 77 

XII Protection against Mosquitoes ... 83 

XIII The Air and Breathing.88 

XIV Living in Good Air.95 

XV The Heart and Its* Work.104 

XVI Keeping the Body Straight .... 109 

XVII The Skin and Its Uses.116 

XVIII Keeping Clean.122 

XIX Clothing and Its Care.127 

XX When We Play.133 

XXI Sleep, Rest and Dreams.139 

XXII The Teeth.144 

XXIII How to Have Good Teeth.149 

XXIV Care of the Hair.155 

XXV Keeping the Nails in Order .... 161 

XXVI How to Have Good Eyes.167 

XXVII Care of the Ears.174 

XXVIII Better Not—Tobacco.180 

XXIX Better Not—Alcohol.184 

XXX When Accidents Happen.187 

XXXI Good Health Games ..196 

Index .208 












----------N 

RULES OF THE HEALTH GAME 

1. A full bath more than once a week. 

2. Brushing the teeth at least once every day. 

3. Sleeping long hours with windows open. 

4. Drinking as much milk as possible, but no 
coffee or tea. 

5. Eating some vegetables or fruit every day. 

6. Drinking at least four glasses of water a 
day. 

7. Playing part of every day out-of-doors. 

8. A bowel movement every day. 

k____> 



HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

CHAPTER I 

MAKING OUR HABITS OUR FRIENDS 

Did you ever notice which shoe you put on first in 
the morning? Or which arm you first put into your 
coat? Not that it matters which comes first in either 
case, but it is likely that you do put on your shoes 
and your coat in the same way every time. 

This is because you have formed the habit of doing 
these things in a certain manner. Acts that we come 
to do without stopping to think about them, or with¬ 
out intending to do them we call our habits . 

How habits are formed. —My friend Tom has a 
chum who stammers. Tom was thoughtless and 
unkind enough to mimic his chum several times. He 
did it in fun, of course, and had no notion of learning 
to stammer himself. But it was not long until Tom’s 
mother noticed that he was stammering. When she 
spoke to him about it, Tom said he didn’t mean to do 
it, and that it “just did itself.” That was true. After 
he had performed the act of stammering a few times 

it went on and did itself without Tom intending it. 

I 



2 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


The habit was formed, and Tom is having much trouble 
in breaking it. 

We can form either good habits or bad habits. If 
we perform only the right kind of acts our habits will 
be good. If we do things that ought not to be done 
and continue doing them for a little time we will have 
habits that are bad. For day by day our habits are 
growing out of our acts. 

“Friend-habits” and “enemy-habits.” — Dr. 

William James tells us that the great thing is to make 
our habits our friends instead of our enemies. Horace 
Mann once said, “Habit is a cable; we weave a thread 
of it each day and it becomes so strong we can not 
break it.” 

The real purpose of your studying physiology and 
hygiene is to help you form right habits of living. 
The way we care for our bodies to-day, to-morrow and 
the days that lie ahead quickly becomes habit; and our 
good health is after all largely the result of good habits. 

Signs of good and bad habits. —I can explain 
what I mean in this way: If I should go about your 
school and examine the teeth of the boys and girls I 
should find that some have white, clean and attractive 
teeth. Their teeth are not discolored, they do not have 
holes in them, nor do they ache. I am quite sure that 
those who have teeth of this kind are the ones who 
have formed the habit of washing their teeth and 
keeping their mouths clean. 



MAKING OUR HABITS OUR FRIENDS 3 

It is probable that I should also find some with teeth 
that are not very clean nor attractive. Particles of 
food are lodged between the teeth, many of them have 
cavities, and some ache quite frequently. Is it not 
likely that the boys and girls who have teeth of this 
undesirable kind are the ones who have not formed 
the habit of caring for their teeth regularly? 

The fine looking soldiers who stand so straight, 
look so spick and span, and carry themselves so well 
must pass “inspection” every morning. When the 
officer comes along every button and buckle must be 
in place, every uniform spotless, every shoe shined, 
and everything about each soldier neat, clean and in 
order. Soldiers quickly form these habits. It is a part 
of their training. 

Looking after our habits.—Many schools are 
coming to have morning “inspection” like the soldiers. 
Suppose we should have inspection in your school 
room this morning. I am sure I should find some boys 
and girls whose hands and nails are clean and well- 
kept, whose hair shows care, and whose clothes are 
neat. They could pass “inspection”; they have formed 
right habits about these things. 

Is it not possible that I should also find others with 
hands and nails that show less care, with hair that 
looks stubborn and untrained, and with clothes that 
need brushing or mending? 

The difference is one of habits. If we have formed 


4 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


the habit of cleaning our teeth and nails and of brush¬ 
ing our hair, so that we would no more think of starting 
our day without doing these things than we would of 

going without our 
meals or our sleep, 
then we may be 
sure that we can 
pass “inspection.” 
Let us not forget 
that anybody who 
sees us can tell the 
kind of personal 
habits we have 
formed by noticing 
how we keep our 
hair, nails, teeth, 
shoes and clothes. 
These things al¬ 
ways tell on us. 

A good rule.— 

Ready for Inspection A very simple rule 

for habit forming 
is this: Anything 
that we want to 
keep on doing, as sleeping with open windows or 
sitting and walking straight, we should go at it and 
do until the habit is formed. Then the desirable act 
will go on of itself without care or effort. 



Clothes clean and neat, hair brushed, teeth and 
nails attended to, faces good-natured and smil¬ 


ing. 


“Friend-habits” forming 











MAKING OUR HABITS OUR FRIENDS 5 


Anything that we do not want to keep on doing, as 
putting pencils in our mouths or eating too rapidly, we 
should be careful not to do at all because the habit will 
surely form in that direc¬ 
tion. Things that we go 
on doing for a little time 
result in habits no matter 
whether we wish them to 
or not; they finally come 
to “do themselves.” 

All of us have many 
habits that are good and 
some that are bad. It is 
a good thing for each of 
us to make a list of the 
habits that he ought to 
form; also another list 
of the habits that he 
would like to break. 

Habits to make our early to Bed 

friends. — Some of the 
habits that we may make 
our friends are these: 

Opening our bedroom windows at night. 
Brushing the teeth after each meal. 

Sitting so that the light will not fall in the eyes 
when we read. 

Bathing several times a week. 


Twelve hours’ sleep for young children, 
ten for all others. This is one of the 
best “friend-habits” we can form 
































6 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Learning to say please, thank you, beg pardoa 
and other kindly expressions. 

Being on time. 

Going to bed and getting up at regular hours. 
Keeping clothing, shoes, hair and nails neat. 
Eating slowly and learning to like different kinds 
of foods. 

Keeping good-natured and happy. 

Habits to shun. —These habits are always our 
enemies; if we have formed any such habits we should 
go about it at once to break them: 

Sprawling bent forward over our desk when 
we study. 

Sliding down in our seat with the body 
cramped. 

Biting the finger-nails or picking at the nose. 
Coughing or sneezing near other people. 

Not speaking our words clearly and distinctly. 
Keeping our desk or room in disorder. 

Being sullen, sour, cross or easily angry. 
Carelessness about errands or other duties. 

/' Eating candy or having soda fountain treats 
between meals. 

The use of tobacco or liquor in any form. 

Now stop and think a minute. How many of the 
“friend-habits” can you honestly say you have formed? 
How many of the “enemy-habits” have you? 


MAKING OUR HABITS OUR FRIENDS 7 


No doubt you can think of still other habits that 
you would like to form, and some that you ought to 
break. Try writing down at least five of each kind. 



A letter from the authors. —At the very beginning 
the authors wish to give 
a personal message to 
the boys and girls who 
study this text. Our 
message is this: We 
want you not only to 
learn the things the book 
tells you, but we want 
you to do them. When 
the lessons tell you how 
to keep your bodies well, 
how to make them grow, 
how to be strong, do not 
be satisfied until you 
have put the lessons into 
practise. Do the right 
things until they become 
habits; refuse to do the 
things that injure you, so 
that you may not form wrong habits. Break off your 
‘'enemy-habits’’ now; form many new “friend-habits” 
just as fast as you can. 


Up Smiling 

No loitering in dressing or chores. 
Another good “friend-habit” 


2—June 23. 















CHAPTER II 


READY FOR “INSPECTION” 

Whether we have daily “inspection” in school or not 
we are, nevertheless, “inspected” every day by other 
people. Our classmates, our teachers, the visitors who 
call at our home, the people who notice us on the street— 
all these observe whether we are neat and clean and 
attractive. 

We come to be known by the habits we form.— 

Just now, for example, without even glancing around 
the school room you know that there are certain ones of 
your friends who are pleasant to look upon, because they 
have clean clothes, clean bodies and neat appearance. 
You know this about them because they always arc that 
way, and you know what to expect of them. Their 
“friend-habits” make them ready for “inspection” at 
any time. 

On the other hand, it is just possible that, also without 
glancing around the room, you know that there are cer¬ 
tain ones of your schoolmates who lack neatness, who 
are not so clean, and who are therefore not so attractive 
as the others. You know this about them without wait- 

8 



READY FOR “INSPECTION” 9 

ing to look at them because they usually are this way. 
They have not formed the right “friend-habits,” but 
have allowed “enemy-habits” to creep in. 

Preparing for “inspection,” —Of course one 
should be neat and clean and tidy just because one is 
ashamed for one’s own self to be any other way. Boys 
and girls who really care about being clean would feel 
uncomfortable and ashamed to have unbrushed teeth or 
bodies that had missed a bath or clothes that had been 
neglected even if no one else knew about it. 



No danger from bad air in this outdoor school 


Besides wishing to be clean for our own sake, how¬ 
ever, it is right that we should think about the impres¬ 
sion we are constantly making on others by our appear¬ 
ance. Possibly your school is one of the many in which 
the first ten minutes of each morning is given to health 












IO 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


and hygiene inspection. If so here are some of the 
things that will be done and the points that will be 
observed: 

Class inspection. —When school has been called and 
the pupils are in their seats with coats, sweaters and 
rubbers removed the teacher will stand in front and give 
the signal, “Attention!” Every boy and girl sits erect, 
with head well up, feet flat on the floor and hands 
clasped, resting on the desk. 



This schoolgirl is shown in five different postures from good (i) to 
very bad (5). Note how much taller she is when standing correctly 


Clothing. —The teacher will then look down each 
line of seats to notice such things as these: Are the 
blouses , shirts, dresses and collars all neat, clean and in 
order? Are there buttons off or hanging loose? Are 
there torn or worn places that should have been mended? 






















READY FOR “INSPECTION” 


ii 


Are there soiled spots that should have been sponged or 
washed? These points will tell whether one takes pride 
in his clothes or is careless. They will tell whether one 
is forming “friend-habits” or “enemy-habits.” 

Ties, ribbons, hair. —Next, the teacher will observe 
for the ties, the hair ribbons and the order of the hair. 
Sometimes the ties and ribbons are badly wrinkled and 
need pressing; sometimes they are tied carelessly and 
are crooked; sometimes they do not even look very fresh 
and require cleaning. It may also sometimes happen 
that some one’s hair may have had only a “lick and a 
promise” instead of real brushing such as will make it 
stay in order. 

Handkerchiefs. —Perhaps the teacher will ask all 
those who have brought fresh clean handkerchiefs to 
stand. This ought to include everybody, for even if 
one’s nose is not unruly from a cold, one is likely to have 
to sneeze or cough. And of course one should never 
sneeze or cough without covering the nose and mouth 
with his handkerchief. 

Tooth-brushes. —Those may next be asked to stand 
who have an individual tooth-brush; and then those to 
remain standing who have that morning brushed their 
teeth before coming to school. Surely those who can not 
truthfully say that they have a tooth-brush and that 




12 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


they faithfully use it will want to form this “friend- 
habit” immediately. 

The feet .—The shoes and stockings may come in for 
observation next. Row after row may be asked to stand 
while the teacher notes whether the shoes are clean, 
laces not broken, stockings whole. For even our feet 
tell the story of our care or neglect in forming right 
habits. 

Individual inspection.—It is possible that besides 
the class inspection your school may have individual 



. 


“Play while you play, but when you work do not play at all” 

inspection. In this case the teacher will look more 
closelv concerning each boy and girl. 

w 0*^0 


















READY FOR “INSPECTION” 


13 


Hands and arms.—The signal, “ Attention!” is 
given; sleeves are rolled up to the elbows; hands and 
arms are placed on the desk top, palms down. Are your 
hands and wrists clean? Are your finger-nails properly 
trimmed, and are they clean ? Do your nails show biting 
and tearing? Are there any cuts, bruises or sores that 
are not having proper treatment? Is there any rash, or 
breaking out, that needs attention? What stories a pair 
of hands can tell on their owner! 

The teeth.—Teeth that are regularly well cleaned are 
shiny and white. To have your teeth inspected, draw 
your lips well apart so that they may be easily seen. It 
is well to remember that even if the school does not have 
daily “inspection” our teeth are observed by every one 
who cares to look, whenever we laugh or smile or speak. 
Well kept even teeth are beautiful and attractive. 

Head and neck.—Of course every one washes his 
face before coming to school. Yet sometimes inspection 
shows that some spots have been missed. Did you ever 
sit behind a person and notice that the back of his neck 
was dirty? Or that he had failed to wash behind his 
ears! Or that you could see dirt and grime and dan¬ 
druff sticking to the scalp! 

So when you are sure that you are clean you will be 
proud to bend your head forward when the teacher 
comes by for inspection and prove that your “friend- 




14 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


habits” are on the job. You will be glad to have your 
hair and scalp examined because you know they are 
clean and fresh and that you can be proud of them 
instead of ashamed. 

Interesting things to do.—i. Whether your school 
has “inspection” or not, “inspect” yourself when 
you are ready for school to make sure you are- 
ready for “inspection” by your schoolmates and 
others. 

2. Go to your mother or father when you are ready 
for school and offer yourself for “inspection” 
on the points mentioned in this chapter. 

3. As you think the matter over, try to decide what 
points you need to be most careful about in order 
that you may be ready for “inspection” at any 
time. 

4. As you think over a list of your friends are there 
some “enemy-habits” which make them less at¬ 
tractive than thev would be without them ? 

5. Now try to determine whether you yourself have 
some “enemy-habits” which your friends or fam¬ 
ily would like to have you cure. 

Health Problems 

I. Tom wanted his hair to look well for morning school inspec¬ 
tion, so he wet it and gave it two or three strokes with the 
brush. By the time he got to school his hair looked bristly 



READY FOR “INSPECTION” 15 

and stiff and stuck straight out instead of lying down on his 
head. How could Tom make his hair less unruly? 

2. A certain boy came to school for a week with a large three- 
cornered tear in his coat sleeve. What would you recommend ? 

3. Hilda’s teeth are of good shape but they are discolored and 
do not look clean. When it comes time for inspection she 
tries not to open her lips wide. What “friend-habit” do you 
think Hilda must lack? 

4 . Jack has a handkerchief, but it is rolled up in a tight ball and 
so soiled one can hardly tell its original color. A few mo¬ 
ments ago Jack sneezed just back of where Mary was sitting, 
and he did not cover his nose and mouth with his handker¬ 
chief. Perhaps he was ashamed to show his handkerchief! 

5. When the teacher asked those who had an individual tooth¬ 
brush to stand, nearly every one stood up. When she asked 
that only those who had brushed their teeth that morning 
should remain standing nearly a dozen sat down. The ques¬ 
tion is, What is the use of having a tooth-brush if one 
doesn’t use it? 


CHAPTER III 


HEALTH, SIZE AND GROWTH 

Nearly every one can tell how big he is—how many 
pounds he weighs and how many inches he is tall. 
But how many of you can tell how big you ought to 
be at your particular age? 

When the baby is born it usually weighs about 
seven or eight pounds. If the baby is well it grows so 
fast that it has doubled its weight in six months and 
trebled its weight by its first birthday. So the baby 
weighs twenty or twenty-five pounds when it is a year 
old. 

What our size ought to be. —But growth does 
not keep on at this rapid rate, and it is well it does not, 
for we should soon become too large to move about. 
When you entered school at the age of six you probably 

I 

weighed forty or forty-five pounds, and your height 
should have been about forty-three or forty-four inches. 

One of the things that each of us wants to know is 
whether our growth is keeping up. No one wants to 
be puny and undersized. We all desire to be as large 
and strong as others of our age. 

Should we find out that our size is less than it ought 

16 


HEALTH, SIZE AND GROWTH 


17 


to be, we shall naturally wish to 
find out the cause, and if possible 
remedy it. If, on the other hand, 
we are up to standard, we shall 
try to avoid doing anything that 
might hinder our growth or les¬ 
sen our strength. We should take 
pride in strong, well-built bodies. 

Our size at different ages.— 

The school boys and girls of sev¬ 
eral large cities have been care¬ 
fully measured and weighed, so 
that we are able to tell the size 
of American school children of 
various ages. You are to under¬ 
stand that the figures given are 
averages , some children being larg- Gaming weight every 

07 o o day, and proud ot the 

er and some smaller. f ac t- 

For example, girls of ten years (to nearest birthday) 
run all the way from 47 to 59 inches in height; boys of 
ten years run all the way from 47 to 60 inches in height. 
In weight, girls of ten years vary all the way from 53 
to 89 pounds; and boys from 54 to 91 pounds. The 
average height for girls of ten is 53 inches; for boys of 
ten about 54 inches. The average weight for girls of ten 
is 68 pounds; for boys of ten about 70 pounds. 

Even more important than your exact height or 
weight is the proportion between your height and 
weight, and whether or not you are gaining steadily. 














i8 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Right Height and Weight Right Height and Weight 

for Girls* for Boysf 


If 

your 

hAip*h t 

If 

Your weight should be: Your 

Your weight should be: 

UUlfeill 











is 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 is 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

inches 

yrs. 

yrs. 

yrs. 

yrs. 

yrs. inches 

yrs 

yrs. 

yrs. 

yrs. 

yrs. 

42 

43 




. 42 

44 





43 

44 




43 

46 





44 

46 




. 44 

47 





45 

48 

49 



. 45 

48 

49 




46 

50 

51 



46 

50 

51 




47 

51 

52 

53 


. 47 

52 

53 

54 



48 

53 

54 

55 

56 

48 

55 

55 

56 

57 


49 

55 

56 

57 

58 

49 

57 

58 

58 

59 


50 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 50 

59 

60 

60 

61 

62 

51 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 51 

61 

62 

63 

64 

65 

52 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 52 

63 

64 

65 

67 

68 

53 

66 

67 

68 

68 

69 53 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

54 

68 

69 

70 

71 

72 54 

69 

70 

71 

72 

73 

55 


72 

73 

74 

75 55 


73 

74 

75 

76 

56 


76 

77 

78 

79 56 


77 

78 

79 

80 

57 



81 

82 

83 57 



81 

82 

83 

58 



85 

86 

87 58 



84 

85 

86 

59 



89 

90 

91 59 



87 

88 

89 

60 




94 

95 60 



91 

92 

93 

61 




99 

101 61 




95 

97 

62 




104 

106 62 




100 

102 

63 




109 

111 63 




105 

107 

64 




115 64 





113 

65 





117 






66 





119 







Girls from eight to eleven years of age should gain 
about eight ounces each month; from eleven to fourteen 

years of age they should gain about twelve ounces a 
month. 


♦Weight and measures should be taken without shoes and in usual 
indoor clothes. 

fA chart for keeping monthly height and weight records for your 
school for one year may be obtained for a few cents from the Child 
Health Organization of America, 370 Seventh Ave., New York, by 
whose courtesy these tables are published. 











































































































































HEALTH, SIZE AND GROWTH 


19 


Boys from eight to twelve years of age should gain 
about eight ounces each month; boys from twelve to six¬ 
teen years should gain about sixteen ounces a month. 

These tables of figures are not given for you to learn 
them, but that you may compare your own height and 
weight with the standard for your age. Your weight 
should be taken on good 
scales, and you should be in 
your indoor clothing. Your 
height should be taken with¬ 
out your shoes, when you are 
standing straight against the 
wall or on a measuring ma¬ 
chine. 

Two things that affect 
your size. —Whether you 
are large or small for your 
age will depend largely on 
two things: First, whether 
your parents, grandparents, 
and great-grandparents were 
naturally large or small of 
stature; second, whether you 
have kept well, received good 
care and had plenty of good 
food to keep you growing. 



Taking his height on 
a measuring machine. 
Be sure to stand 
straight when your 
height is measured 














20 


HYGIENE AND EIEALTH 


Your heredity, or the tendency to size and growth 
given you by your parents and grandparents, you can 
not help nor hinder. But you can do much toward keep- 
ing well, eating the right foods, and thus giving nature 
a chance to bring you to your full size and strength. 

Finding out about our family.— Now, after in¬ 
quiring of your father and mother about the size of the 
members of their families, write down the answers to 
the following questions: 

1. What is the weight of your father? His height? 

2. What is the weight of your mother? Her 
height ? 

3. The weight of each of your grandparents? 
Their height? 

4. Is your weight greater or less than the average 
for your age, and how much ? 

5. Is your height greater or less than the average 
for your age, and how much? 

Health Problems 

1. The boys and girls of the countries that were recently at war 
in Europe were nearly all found to be underweight. Can you 
tell why they were underweight ? 

2. The boys and girls who are being treated in children’s hos¬ 
pitals, average less in size than those of the same age in 
school. Can you tell why? 

3. It has been found that when milk is selling at a very high 
price many babies and young children, especially in the poorer 


HEALTH, SIZE AND GROWTH 


21 


section of cities, show more sickness and do not grow so well. 
Why is this? 

4. If you are larger or if you are smaller than the average for 
your age, how do you account for it? 

5. It was found that during the European War the children took 
diseases more readily than in ordinary times. Can you 
account for this ? 

6 . One of the chief things in treating a person for tuberculosis 
is to make sure that he has plenty of nourishing food. Is 
this also a safeguard against taking tuberculosis? 

7. Bad complexion and pimples on the face are sometimes caused 
by wrong diet. What rules can you give for one who wants 
a good complexion ? 

Interesting things to do. —I. Take your weight 

carefully and discover whether it is greater or 
less than the average for your age (to nearest 
birthday). 

2. Measure your height and discover whether it is 
greater or less than the average for your age. 

3. Compare with the table and discover whether the 
proportion of your weight to your height is what 
it should be. If you are as much as ten per cent. 
under the average for your age and height you 
should give special attention to building up for 
you are under weight. If you are twenty per 
cent, over the average, you are over weight and 
your food and exercise may need to be modified. 
In either case it would be well to consult a 
physician. 


CHAPTER IV 



HEALTH CRUSADERS 

We never miss the water till the well runs dry, says 
the old adage. In like manner we never know the 
value of health until we are ill. 

There are at any one time about three million people 
sick in the United States. This is three persons out 
of every one hundred. If you live in a town of one 
thousand inhabitants, there are about thirty of your 
neighbors sick to-day and under the doctor’s care. 

Why we should keep well. —Sickness brings sor¬ 
row, worry and trouble. It checks the growth of the 
young. It wastes time and money. The cost in the 
United States of unnecessary sickness, or sickness that 
could have been prevented, is estimated at a billion 
dollars a year. This is nearly twice as much money 
as is spent on our schools. 

At times sickness may come upon us through no 
fault of our own. But many of our aches and pains 
are the result of our own carelessness or lack of knowl¬ 
edge. 

Planning for good health. —The other day a boy 

ll know went skating. He is a fine skater, but there 

22 




HEALTH CRUSADERS 


23 



was water on the ice and he got his feet wet. Instead 
of changing his shoes and stockings when he came 
home, he sat through the evening with his feet damp. 
He is now down with a 
severe cold, and the 
doctor fears pneumonia. 

And all because Harry- 
had not formed the habit 
of attending to wet feet 
the moment he came 
into the house! 

Have you ever eaten 
something you knew you 
ought not to eat, and 
then found yourself ill 
because of it? Have 
you never had tooth¬ 
ache from a decayed 
tooth which had been 

neglected? it is even 

c Recess 

possible that your ^ , f „ ,. 

Play hard. Put nothing dirty in your 
weight and height are mouth 

less now than they 

should be on account of some sickness which a little 
care might have prevented. 


Things to be proud of. —The girls and boys who 
read this book should be well. They should plan for 
good health. They should be strong, and not easily 







24 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


tired. They should grow fast, and be free from aches 
and pains. They should not take cold easily, nor be 
subject to headaches, earaches, toothaches. They 
should be hungry for every meal, and enjoy their 
food. They should not easily take contagious dis¬ 
eases to which they may be exposed. They should 
have the habit of being healthy and happy! 

A young friend of mine in the sixth grade boasts 
that he has not lost a day from school since he entered 
the first grade. This means that he has kept well. 
He has not had to have the doctor called to see him 
inwall that time. I think he has a right to be proud 
of his record. He has a right to be proud of his 

good health. And of course he is sturdy and 

strong and of good size. This is his reward for 

keeping well. 

Questions worth answering. —The lessons of this 
book are to tell you how to keep well, and how to grow 
large and strong. They will show you how to prevent 
sickness, and how to save the pain and trouble it 
brings. Let us now stop a moment and answer the 
following questions in order to see what lessons we 
most need to learn. 

I. How many times have you been so ill during 
the past year that you had to take medi¬ 

cine? 

How many times have you had to stay in bed 
on account of sickness? 


2. 



HEALTH CRUSADERS 


3. How many times have you had to have the 
doctor? 

4. How much time have you lost from school 
or from work or from play because of being ill? 

5. How much did your medicine and the doctor 
cost? 

6. Have you had any pains, aches, sore throat, 
colds, or other troubles which have not been 
bad enough that you had to take medicine or 
stay out of school? 

Now, after answering these questions, see whether, 
in any sickness you may have had, you can tell what 
brought on the trouble. If a cold, how did you happen 
to take it; if indigestion, what caused it, and so on. 
Can you suggest what you might have done to avoid 
being ill? Who or what was to blame? 

Modern Health Crusaders.* —You no doubt know 
stories of the old Crusaders who fought for every good 
cause and did so 
many brave deeds 
that we honor them 
to this day. These 
crusaders were of 

different ranks, de- Pennant of the Modern Health Crusaders 

pending on how much good they had done and how 
many battles they had won. First, the crusader 
was given the rank of Page; if he did well he was 

*Both plan and matter are borrowed from published material of the National Tuber¬ 
culosis Association. 






26 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


next made a Squire; and finally he might rise to the 
rank of Knight. To become a Knight was a very 
high honor. 

There is to-day a new kind of crusaders, the 
“Modern Health Crusaders.” The Modern Health 
Crusaders is an organization started by the National 
Tuberculosis Association. It already has many mem¬ 
bers. Every boy and girl who reads this book may 
become a member and win honors like the crusaders 

of old. The different 
ranks that you can win 
are: first , Page; second , 

Squire; third, Knight; 
fourth , Knight Banneret. 

The way one wins 
honors as a Modern 
Health Crusader is by 
doing faithfully a certain 

number of “health chores” each week. Seventy-two 
chores done in one week make a perfect score. Here 
is a daily statement of the chores: 




Squire’s Button of 
the Modern Health 
Crusaders 


Knight’s Pin of 
Modern Health 
Crusaders 


I. 


2. 


I washed my hands before each meal to-day. 

I washed not only* my face, but my ears and 
neck and I cleaned my finger-nails to-day. 

I tried to-day to keep fingers, pencils and every¬ 
thing that might be unclean out of my mouth 
and nose. 



HEALTH CRUSADERS 


27 


4. I drank a glass of water before each meal and 
before going to bed, and drank no tea, coffee 
nor other injurious drinks to-day. 

5. I brushed my teeth thoroughly in the morning 
and in the evening to-day. 

6. I took ten or more slow, deep breaths of fresh 
air to-day. 

7. I played outdoors or with windows open more 
than thirty minutes to-day. 

8. I was in bed ten* hours or more last night and 
kept my window open. 

9. I tried to-day to sit up and stand straight, 
to eat slowly, and to attend to toilet and each 
need of my body at its regular time. 

10. I tried to-day to keep neat and cheerful con¬ 
stantly and to be helpful to others. 

11. I took a full bath on each of two days of the 
week. 

How to win the different ranks. —In order to do 
all seventy-two chores in one week requires that you 
shall do each of the first ten chores daily, and take a 
full bath on each of two days of the week. This is 
what you are required to do for each of the different 
titles: 


*Boys and girls thirteen years of age may change this to “nine hours.” Those under 
nine years should sleep eleven hours at least. 




28 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


To be a Page, at least 54 chores in each of two 
weeks. 


To be a Squire, at least 54 chores for a total of 
five weeks. 


To be a Knight, 
at least 54 chores 
for a total of ten 
weeks. 

To be a Knight 
Banneret, at least 
54 chores for a 
total of fifteen 
weeks. 



The record of health 
chores must be carefully 
kept on a blank like the 
one which follows. When 
you have done enough 
chores for a title, take 
the record properly filled 
to your teacher for her to 
approve. She must be 

satisfied with your cleanness from day to day, and 
know that you are doing your chores faithfully. 


Rules for a “Crusader”—Fresh air, 
study hard, sit up straight at your 
desk 































HEALTH CRUSADERS 29 

Health Chore Record Blank. —Check X for each 

day chore was done: 


FIRST WEEK SECOND WEEK 



Sun 

Mon 

Tue 

Wed 

Thu 

Fri 

Sat 

Sun 

Mon 

Tue 

Wed 

Thu 

Fri 

Sat 

I. Washing hands 
before all meals. 















2. Washing face, ears 
and neck. Clean¬ 
ing finger-nails. 















3. Keeping fingers, 
pencils and every¬ 
thing unclean out 
of mouth and nose. 















4. Drinking water 
before meals and 
bed. No tea, cof¬ 
fee, etc. 















5. Brushing teeth in 
morning and eve¬ 
ning. 















6. Ten slow, deep 
breaths of fresh 
air. 















7. More than thirty 
minutes’ play out¬ 
doors, or with 
windows open. 















8. Ten hours or more 
in bed, windows 
open. 















9. Sitting and stand¬ 
ing erect, regular 
attention to every 
bodily need. 















10. Keeping neat and 
cheerful. Helpful 

to others. 















11. Full bath on each 
day checked (X). 















Total 
















Note to the teacher: The authors strongly urge that not only the class using this text, 
but the entire school, be organized into a band of Modern Health Crusaders. Many schools 
are using this plan to establish habits of hygienic living. The scope of the organization is 
national. A letter addressed to the National Tuberculosis Association, New \ ork, or to your 
state Junior Red Cross will bring you full information and samples of blanks, etc. 




























































































































































































30 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Interesting things to do. —Some helpful things 

which members of the Modem Health Crusaders might 
do are the following; still others may be suggested by 
the teacher: 



The “Crusader” has formed “friend- 
habits” like these—Glass of water, 
brush teeth, a hot bath twice a week 


1. Taking charge, un¬ 
der the teacher's 
directions, of the 
opening of windows 
for the ventilation 
of the school room. 

2. Flushing the room 
with all doors and 
windows open at 
recess. 

3. Helping conduct 
morning “inspec¬ 
tion.” 

4. Keeping room, 
halls, toilets and 
school yard clear of 
rubbish. 

5. Observing whether 
are obeyed in markets 

anti-coughing and 


laws governing cleanliness 

6 . Joining an anti-spitting, 
anti-sneezing crusade. 


7. Learning to make and apply bandages for 
cuts, sprains and bruises. 



























HEALTH CRUSADERS 


3 i 

8 . Learning to choose the proper food and 
neatly pack school and picnic lunches. 

9. Assisting in “tooth-brush drill.” 

10. Demonstrating how to treat burns, frost¬ 
bites, etc. 

Health Problems 

1. Report on Health Chores. 

2 . There are several million Health Crusaders among the 
school boys and girls of this country—will you be one? 

3 . Which of the eleven health chores do you find it hardest to 
remember or do? If you form the habit of doing this thing 
then it will be easy—it will “do itself.” 

4 . How does one go about it to form a habit? How does one 
go about it to break a habit he wishes to be rid of? 

5 . I saw a boy holding a pencil in his mouth the other day. 
He put the pencil in his pocket and soon Ned came and 
borrowed it to write with. After a few minutes Ned had 
the pencil in his mouth. Besides the dirtiness of it, how 
many boys were in danger of taking disease? 

6 . Suppose every boy and girl in the United States should turn 
Health Crusader and do all the health chores regularly. 
Do you think they would grow larger and stronger? What 
would be the effect on the doctors’ income? 

7 . Do you think people like boys and girls better when they 
are clean, well and wholesome? 


CHAPTER V 


THE BODY’S NEED OF FOOD 

If I should ask you why we need to eat, I suppose 
the most natural answer would be because we get 
hungry. 

This seems reason enough. Yet there are even 
more important reasons than this. Hunger is nature's 
way of telling us that the body needs food. And with¬ 
out hunger to remind us I fear that we should often 
neglect to give the body the food it requires. 

Why the body needs food. —There are two great 

reasons why the body must have food: First , to 
replace the worn-out tissues of our muscles, bones, 
nerves, etc., and add new material for our growth. 
Second , to supply the energy needed by the body to 
do its work and keep up its heat. 

Does it seem strange that we should speak of the 
body wearing out? Yet every tissue of your body, 
its muscles, bones, nerves, and all other parts, is 
constantly wearing away just as surely as your clothes 
wear out. 

Not a movement you make, not an errand you run, 
not a game you play but thousands upon thousands of 

32 



THE BODY’S NEED OF FOOD 


33 


the tiny cells or particles which make up the tissues of 
your body work harder and so need more food, and 
wear out faster and so need new material with which 
to repair themselves. Even the thinking you do in 
learning this lesson means more work by the brain 
cells just as truly as your running means more work 
by the muscle cells of your leg. But you might say 
then why not rest always? Why not save all these 
cells this wear and tear? No, a living cell like a 
healthy boy was made to work. It gets strong and 
skilful by working, and grows stronger the more it 
works. If you let it rest too much it will first sicken 
and then may die. The important lesson for us to 
learn is not to tire the cells too much and to give 
them plenty of food and ample time to rest and repair 
themselves. 

Replacing worn-out tissues. —Now it is clear 
that these worn-out tissues must be replaced, or the 
body would soon all waste away. Our bodies are 
much like the jack-knife which a man was proud of 
having carried for twenty-five years. The knife had 
had one new handle and several new blades during 
that time, but the owner still considered it the same 
old knife. 

We think of keeping the same bodies from year to 
year, yet the old tissues are constantly being removed 
and new tissues built in. The result is that we have 
almost completely new bodies every few years. 



HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


34 

Building new tissues. —We must also grow. 
You have already seen how the baby increases its 



From This ‘ To This 

In a year. The increase all came from the food which the baby ate 

weight threefold the first year, and how each of us 
continues to add to his size from year to year until he 








THE BODY’S NEED OF FOOD 


35 


has reached his full 
stature. 

All the material for 
the repairing of worn- 
out tissues and the add¬ 
ing of new must come 
from our food. What 
you eat to-day will in a 
few hours become a 
part of your body. The 
potatoes, the bread, the 
meat, the milk, will be¬ 
come muscle, blood, 
brain,and other tissues. 

Supplying energy. 

—Besides its supply of 
new tissue, the body 
must also be supplied 
with force or energy . 
It requires energy to 
w^ork, or play, or think. 
It requires energy just 
to be alive , even. It 
requires energy also 
to keep up the heat 
of the body. 

Yesterday I stood by 
a long train sweep by. 


I 


if " 

' ' 

♦ ; , v 



The food which this young athlete eats 
must not only make him grow, but must 
also supply the energy which he constantly 

uses 

the railway track and watched 
It was drawn by a monster 

















HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


36 

locomotive, and was going sixty miles an hour. I 
thought what an amount of power, what energy! As 
I turned from the train, I saw two boys coming down 
the road at a fast pace. They were running a race. 
They flashed past me, and I said, “Here is power, 
here is energy too.” 

And so it was. It was energy or force which 
drove both the engine and the boys. The energy 
which had been stored up in the coal ages ago was 
set free by burning the coal, and the engine used 
the power to pull the train. 

Likewise, the energy which had been stored up in 
the food eaten by the boys was set free by burning 
the food in their bodies. It was this that had given 
them the power and endurance used in their race. 
Just as the locomotive is without power until it gets 
the energy of the coal, so the body is without strength 
until it receives the energy from its food. 

Furnishing heat. —The body must also have its 
supply of heat. I do not mean now the heat that 
comes from our fires or from the sun, but the heat 
that comes from within the body itself. We try to 
keep the temperature of our rooms near 70 degrees. 
When we are well the temperature of our bodies is 
about 99 degrees. The body keeps this temperature 
even when we are out-of-doors in the extreme cold. 

Just as we heat our houses with the coal we feed the 
furnace, so we heat our bodies with the food we eat. 



THE BODY'S NEED OF FOOD 


3 7 


A part of our food is slowly burned up in the tissues 
of the body where, instead of producing a red-hot fire 
like that in our furnace, it makes heat enough to keep 
the temperature of the body up to nearly 99 degrees. 

What an amazing thought—thousands, yes millions, 
of tiny fires burning throughout our bodies, but so well 



It is sometimes as much fun to work as it is to play 


controlled that they never get too hot nor too cold as 
long as we keep well and have proper food! 

When we lack food.—When people do not have 
food enough, they come to have a starved look. They 
grow thin and spindling and pale. Their bodies are 
being worn away faster than they are built up. 

Lack of food also reduces the body’s energy, so that 
the strength fails. The poor food that many European 












38 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


people were obliged to live on before the end of the 
great war so weakened them that they were not able 
to do more than half of the work expected of them. 
We are always careful to feed our soldiers, workmen 
and athletes well, so that they may be at their best 
in strength. 

One who is poorly fed is unable to withstand severe 
cold. Explorers in the arctic regions have found that 
they do not greatly mind the very cold weather as long 
as they have plenty of good food. But when the food 
supply runs low, they are easily chilled by the cold. 
Their bodies are then without fuel to burn. 

This all means, then, that if we would grow fast, if 
we would appear plump and well-fed instead of thin 
and scrawny, we must have enough good food to eat. 
If we would have strength, energy and endurance for 
work and play, if we would be able to stand cold 
winters and stormy weather, we must give the body 
the food it requires. 

Our food must be of the right kind.—In this 

favored land of ours there are very few who are obliged 
to go hungry. Yet even in America there are some 
who do not have sufficient food, or whose food is not 
of the kind they require. There are boys and girls who 
will never reach their full growth and be as large and 
strong as nature intended them to be simply because 
they do not have enough to eat. 

Probably few of the boys and girls who read these 



THE BODY’S NEED OF FOOD 39 

words are so poor as to lack food. But there are other 
things to take into account besides having a sufficient 
quantity of food. The food must be of the right kinds , 
and it must be properly prepared and properly eaten . 
Our next lessons will deal with some of these questions. 

Interesting things to do. —Think out and write 
down the answers to the following questions: 

1. In certain New York and Chicago schools where 
an investigation was made it was found that 
about one boy or girl out of every twelve regu¬ 
larly came to school with no breakfast. How 
would you expect this to affect their size? 
Their strength? Their quickness to learn? Their 
power to withstand the winter cold? 

2. One who has sufficient food of a kind that 
agrees with him and causes him to grow strong 
and sturdy is said to have good nutrition; one who 
does not have enough food, or one whose food 
fails to nourish him as it should, leaving him 
flabby, undersized, thin, pale, easily tired and 
unable to stand severe cold, is said to have poor 
nutrition. Would you say that your nutrition 
is good or poor? By what signs do you judge? 

3. Another way to test your nutrition is as follows: 

With a tape line measure the girth of , your arm 
around the largest part above the elbow (Do not 
bend the arm). Measure the girth of your chest 



40 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


(Do not fill the lungs). Next, multiply your arm 
girth by ioo; then divide this product by the 
girth of your chest. If the quotient is 30 or more 
it indicates good nutrition; if less than 30, poor 
nutrition. For example, a boy I know measures 
8.5 inches around his arm and 28 inches around 
his chest. This is the way to figure his 
nutrition: 

8.5 X 100=850 
850-^28=30.4 

This boy’s nutrition is therefore about up to the 
average. 

Facts that are worth remembering. —1. The 

material for your growth all comes from your 
food. There is no other place to get it. If you 
lack food material, or if ill health keeps you from 
digesting and using what you eat, your growth 
will be slow and you will probably be under size. 

2. All your force, energy and endurance come from 
your food. They can never be better than your 
food supply. 

3. The fuel for the body’s heat is supplied by the 
food we eat, and a poor fuel supply for the 
body means imperfect heating there, just as lack 
of good coal would mean poor heating for our 
houses. 

4. The only way to get growth, strength and health 
is from good food, well cooked and properly eaten. 


CHAPTER VI 


WHAT WE EAT 

It would seem strange, would it not, for a person to 
starve to death while he had an abundance of food? 
Yet this would be possible if he were allowed but one 
single kind of food. If you should give me plenty of 
bread, for example, and nothing else, I should certainly 
finally die of starvation. The result would be the same 
if you gave me nothing but lean meat. One can not 
live on any one such food as bread or meat alone, 
necessary as both are in our diet. 

The two kinds of food we need. —The reason for 
this becomes clear when we remember that the body 
must have both tissue building and energy producing 
foods. Now, not all foods are capable of serving 
both of these purposes. One would surely starve if he 
ate ever so much of a food that would build tissues, but 
would not produce energy; and he would starve just 
as readily if he were to eat the energy producers, but 
lacked the tissue builders. 

None of us is in danger of actual starvation, of 
course, for we do not try to live on one single kind of 
food. Yet it is very necessary that we so choose our 



HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


42 

food that we shall have a “balanced ration.” By a 
balanced ration is meant a variety of food so chosen as 
to supply the body with all the different food materials 
it requires. 

What happens if we do not have a “balanced 
ration.” —If we leave out of our diet the foods that 
are intended to build up new tissues, then we shall not 
grow as fast as we should, and may even lose in weight 
and strength. 

If, on the other hand, our diet is short in the foods 
that supply energy, we shall be weak and lack ambition 
and endurance. In either case our health will not be 
good, and we shall be more liable to sickness and dis¬ 
ease. 

It is therefore possible, you see, that though all the 
boys and girls who study this book may have enough 
to eat, they may not always live on a properly balanced 
diet, and some of you may not be growing as fast as you 
should from lack of tissue builders in your diet. Others 
may not be able to run as fast, or lift as much, or learn 
as easily, or resist disease as well as they ought because 
they do not eat the right kinds of food. 

There are some foods that contain almost every ele¬ 
ment that the body needs, and which should therefore 
form an important part of our diet. 

The best foods. —Milk is one such food. The baby 
lives and thrives on milk alone. Milk continues to be 
one of our most necessary foods throughout our life. 



WHAT WE EAT 


43 


Especially should boys and girls drink plenty of good 
milk. For milk contains materials both for tissue 
building and energy. Milk therefore favors rapid 
growth, and will make us strong and sturdy. 

Eggs are also one of our best foods. Did you ever 
think that an egg contains within its shell everything 



These young Americans will need more food-fuel during the winter 

than in the summer months 

that finally goes to make up the body of the chick that 
hatches from it? The materials that are needed to 
make muscles, bones, brain, blood and every other 
tissue have all been provided in just the right propor¬ 
tions. 

When we eat an egg we are therefore getting precisely 
the materials we need for our own tissues, instead of 
allowing them to grow into the tissues of a chicken. 
















44 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Wheat bread an important food. —Bread made 
from wheat is so important a food that it is called the 
“staff of life.” Whatever else we may have on our 
tables, w r e usually have plenty of bread. Yet it is only 
in recent times that it has been possible to raise enough 
wheat so that the common people could have it for 
their daily food. 

And even yet there are many millions of people in 
India, China and some other parts of the world who 
have never tasted wheat bread. Instead of wheat, 
they eat rice, rye, corn or other grains. During the 
European war many Americans went without wheat 
that we might ship it to our allies. 

Almost all the common cereals make excellent foods 
when eaten along with meats, milk, eggs, butter, sugar 
and the like. One of the best ways in which cereals can 
be prepared is in the form of gruel, porridge, or the 
prepared breakfast foods that come to us in packages. 

Meat foods. —Meat is an excellent part of our diet, 
though it does not need to be eaten in large quantities. 
Once a day is often enough to eat meat. In fact three or 
four times a week is sufficient if we have eggs and milk. 

Lean meat goes largely to the building up of our 
tissues for the growth and repair of the body. Fat 
meat is used chiefly in the production of the body’s 
heat. The Eskimos eat large quantities of seal 
blubber, or fat, and this enables them to withstand the 
extreme cold of the far North. 



WHAT WE EAT 


45 

Fruits and vegetables. —One should eat freely of 
the common fruits and vegetables. This is highly im¬ 
portant for health and growth. An old saying is that 
“an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Fresh 
fruits and vegetables should be eaten daily when they 
are in season. Stored, canned or dried fruits and 



Milk, bread, vegetables and fruits are necessary foods 


vegetables should form a regular part of the daily 
ration during the winter. Hardly a meal, certainly not 
a day, should pass without our eating a liberal amount 
of this most necessary kind of food. Nearly all veg¬ 
etables are good energy producers. 

Sugar. —Everybody likes sugar and candy. These 
should form a part of our food, but not in too great 
quantities. During the great war many of our allies 





46 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


in Europe were suffering for want of sugar, and we were 
asked to send them what we could spare. 

It would seem that we ought to be able to spare no 
small amount, for on the average each of us eats more 
than eighty pounds of sugar a year, either in sweetening 
our food and drink or making candy. About half 
this amount is all we really need as food. Sugar goes 
to the producing of energy. It does not build body 
tissues. 

Water.—Nor must we forget water as an important 
part of our food. While water does not directly re¬ 
build our tissues nor supply energy, it is highly neces¬ 
sary to the welfare of the body. Indeed, one can go 
without solid food much longer than he can without 
water. Men lost on the desert or adrift on the ocean 
without water to drink suffer cruelly, and even go 
insane from thirst. 

The body’s need for water does not seem strange 
when we know that about two-thirds of our weight is 
made up of the water in our tissues. This means that 
if you now weigh seventy-five pounds, the water in 
your muscles, bones, fat, blood, and other tissues 
weighs fully fifty pounds. The really .solid part of you 
therefore weighs only about twenty-five pounds. No 
wonder that you need water as a part of your food! 

We get a part of the water we require in the foods 
we eat, for most foods contain a large proportion of 
water. Potatoes, for exam ole, are about seventy-five 


WHAT WE* EAT 4 7 

per cent, water; meat is from sixty to eighty per cent, 
water; and milk nearly ninety per cent, water. 

Yet we do not secure water enough in such ways, 
and must constantly drink a considerable amount. 
Many people do not drink enough water to keep them 
in the best of health and strength. Boys and girls 
from ten to twelve years of age should usually drink 
as much as three or four pints of pure water each day. 
Even though one does not feel thirsty he should, never¬ 
theless, drink his full amount of water. 

Interesting questions to answer. —1. Prisoners 
who disobey rules in the penitentiary are some¬ 
times punished by being fed on bread and water. 
Bread is a good tissue builder, but not a good 
energy producer. How do you think this kind 
of diet will affect a man who lives on it for a 
number of weeks? 

2. Butter and fat meat are heat producing foods. 
Would you expect the people who live in hot or 
in cold climates to care most for them? When do 
we care most for them, in summer or in winter? 

3. We use up energy faster when we labor or play 
hard than when we are idle. We "also use up 
energy faster when the weather is cold than 
when it is hot. When should you naturally get 
more hungry and eat more food, on days when 
you are not exercising much, or when you are 
active? In winter or in summer? 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


48 

Facts to be remembered. —The important lessons 

which we should remember from this chapter might 

be stated as follows: 

We should not live on too narrow a range of 
foods. 

Our diet should be simple. It should include all 
great groups of foods, such as milk and eggs, the 
cereal grains, vegetables, fruits, meats, sweets, 
and pure water. 

We must have both the tissue builders and en¬ 
ergy producers. If we eat a varied diet we shall 
be sure to have both in abundance. 

Health Problems 

1. Report on Health Chores. 

2. Make a list of all that you have had to eat and to drink in 
the last twenty-four hours. Have you eaten anything that 
does not “agree” with you? Have you had enough nourish¬ 
ing food? Have you had enough variety? 

3. Jamie is rather hard to cook for. He complains that he 
“does not like vegetables.” He rebels at oatmeal and cream, 
and wants coffee instead of milk to drink. Jamie is about 
ten pounds underweight. Can you guess why? 

4. Jennie has noticed that, though she may feel rather tired 
and weak just before a meal, she feels strong and ready for 
play or work after she has eaten. Can you explain the 
reason ? 

5. Do you ever go to the table hungry and then not feel like 
eating much after you have started your meal? If so, what 
is the matter? 


/ 



CHAPTER VII 


PLANNING OUR MEALS 

What shall we have for breakfast? What shall we 
have for dinner? What shall we have for supper? 
And, if we carry our lunch to school, what shall we 
take? 

Perhaps you will say, 1 ‘Whatever our mothers pre¬ 
pare for us.” Or you may name the one thing you 
like best. Yet no doubt your mother would like you 
to be able to help plan for your meals; and you will, 
of course, want something besides the particular food 
you like best. 

First of all, our meals should be palatable; we 
should like our food and enjoy eating it. This is not 
just for the pleasure we may get from our meals, 
though that is worth while. It is chiefly because our 
stomachs digest better and we get more good from 
food that we enjoy. 

Why our food should be palatable. —You have 
noticed that your mouth “waters” when you see 
something you especially like to eat. But your mouth 
never waters for a dose of medicine or a dish of food 
that you dislike. 


49 



HYGIENE AND HEALTH 



Now this watering of the mouth is caused by the 
saliva, which begins to flow at the thought or sight of 
pleasing food. A similar liquid called gastric juice 
begins to flow in the stomach whenever the saliva 
starts. And these are the two chief fluids that bring 



The fun of outdoor cooking 

about the digestion of our food. If they flow freely the 
food is properly digested. If they fail to flow, the di¬ 
gestion is hindered. 

Why meal-time should be cheerful.— Pleasing and 
attractive surroundings as well as a palatable taste help 
us to enjoy our meals. A well set table, dishes of food 
well served and attractively arranged, pleasant conver¬ 
sation, laughter and cheer are good for the digestion. 











PLANNING OUR MEALS 


5i 


On the other hand, food that does not look attrac¬ 
tive nor have a pleasing taste, or conversation that 
makes us gloomy or unhappy is sure to hinder 
digestion and take something from the value of 

the meal. 

• 

What an experiment on a dog showed. — A num¬ 
ber of years ago several French physicians performed 
an interesting experiment on a dog. They cut in his 
neck a small slit through which they could force food 
into the dog’s stomach without the dog eating it or 
even seeing the food. 

They had a device fixed so they could watch what 
was taking place in the stomach. They found that 
food passed into the stomach through this cut would 
remain for several hours without digestion taking place. 
The gastric juice did not flow out and mix with the 
food. 

They then brought more food to the dog and this 
time allowed him to see it and smell it. The dog 
wanted the food and his mouth watered for it, but 
they did not give him any. Immediately, however, 
the gastric juice began to flow in the stomach and 
digestion started upon the food that had remained 
undigested for several hours. 

As soon as the dog wanted the food and had pleasant 
thoughts of eating, his stomach was ready to begin 
work. Eating and liking the food were good for the 
digestion. 



52 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Right and wrong kinds of breakfasts. —Break¬ 
fast is often a hurried and rather unsatisfactory meal. 
I have known boys and girls to get up late, snatch a 
few bites, and rush off to school without having time 


I 



Having- a schoolroom lunch of milk and cookies. Paper cups are 
used and then destroyed, so that no one drinks out of a cup that 
has been used by another 


to eat properly. School physicians in Boston and New 
York found that nearly one-half of the children had 
had an unsatisfactory breakfast. No wonder that 
many of them were thin and skinny! 

Now what foods make a good breakfast? Dr. 
Earnest Hoag, who was studying children’s dietaries 
among certain schools of Minnesota, discovered that 









PLANNING OUR MEALS 


53 


eighty-five per cent, of the children had no fruit for 
breakfast. More than half of them had a breakfast 
that contained no tissue building foods. Such break¬ 
fasts are unsatisfactory. They are a poor start for 
the day! 

How to plan our breakfasts. —Let us suppose that 
we are planning the breakfasts for the boys and girls 
of our class for a week. What shall we have? We shall 
want a variety, of course, and will not have just the 
same things every morning. But there are some 
classes of food that we will always have in some form. 

Fruit , fresh if possible, such as baked apple, bananas, 
oranges, grapes, prunes, berries, or grapefruit. It is 
better that the fruit be eaten first. 

Cereal and cream. Oat meal, cream of wheat, 
puffed rice, or any of the prepared breakfast foods are 
good. 

Bread and butter. It is best to have the bread 
toasted crisp, at least for some of the days of the week. 
Warm bread should usually not be eaten. Take a 
piece of warm bread and mold it like a marble, and you 
will see how heavy and soggy it becomes. 

Milk or cocoa. Boys and girls should drink milk 
or cocoa instead of coffee or tea, which are a stimulant 
rather than a food. 

If we are to have meat for dinner we shall not need 
any for breakfast, providing we have sufficient foods 
of other kinds. 



54 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Breakfast plans for a week. —Now from the 

groups of foods just given plan your breakfasts for one 
week, showing just what you will serve each day. 
The following is a sample for one day’s breakfast: 

Sliced Orange 

Oatmeal and Cream Whole Wheat Muffins 

Milk Flavored with Cocoa 

How does the list of breakfasts you have 
planned compare with what you actually had for 
your breakfasts for the last week? 

How to plan our dinners. —Now about our din¬ 
ners,-which may come either at noon or in the evening. 
When we have to go home some distance at noon for 
our dinners it is often hard not to be hurried. But, 
since dinner is our heaviest meal, it should be eaten 
slowly and with time to enjoy it. Dinner should 
have a larger variety of foods and also a larger quantity 
than breakfast. Meat and vegetables are an impor¬ 
tant part of the dinner. The following are groups of 
foods suitable for dinner: 

Meats . Beef, broiled, baked or made into hamburg 
steak. Pork is not a good food for children. Fish, 
broiled or made into balls. Chicken, stewed or baked. 
Mutton, broiled or baked. 

Vegetables. Potatoes boiled or baked, sweet pota¬ 
toes, peas, beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, 
cauliflower, spinach, etc. At least one green leafy vege¬ 
table should be served at every dinner; two are better. 




PLANNING OUR MEALS 


55 


Fruity as apples or other fresh fruits, cranberry sauce, 
canned fruits. 

Dessert. Puddings, such as rice, tapioca, Charlotte- 
russe, baked custard, ice-cream. Pies are not as good 
desserts, especially for children, as puddings. 



A boys’ garden club raises valuable food and has real enjoy¬ 
ment while doing it 


Dinner plans for a week. —Plan the dinners which 
you would like for one week, making sure that you 
provide for such foods as will favor your growth and 
health. The following is a sample for one day’s 
dinner: 

Roast beef with brown gravy Mashed potatoes 
Creamed peas Cranberry sauce 
Rice pudding with lemon sauce Milk 


5 








HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


56 

Now make a list of what you actually had for 
your dinners for the past week, and compare with 
your plan. What differences do you note? 

Supper plans. —For supper or for luncheon, we may 
have much the same classes of foods as for breakfast 
and dinner, but they may be differently prepared. 
This will give variety and make them palatable. 

Make a plan for your suppers for one week. 
The following is a sample for one day: 

Creamed tomato soup 

Whole wheat bread, with butter One poached egg 

Baked apple Cake 
Milk 

How does the list you have made correspond 
with the suppers you usually have? 

Planning the school lunch. —If we must carry 
our lunch to school, instead of having dinner at home, 
we should then have dinner in the evening. A school 
lunch should be neatly and attractively packed. 
Sandwiches, cake, cheese and other moist foods should 
be wrapped in paraffin paper to keep them fresh and 
clean. The following are samples of good school 
lunches: 

Cup of baked beans Jam sandwich 

Egg sandwich Plain bread and butter sandwich 
Ginger cookies Stuffed dates 



PLANNING OUR MEALS 


57 


Hot potato soup (made at school) One apple 
Cup cottage cheese Bread and butter 

Two frosted cakes 

Make a plan for your school lunches for one 



Canning food prevents food waste and furnishes pleasant 

occupation for girls 


week. Tell, or show how you would prepare and 
pack each article so that it will keep well and 
look neat and attractive. 

Foods that are not good for us. —There are some 
things used for food by many people that are not good, 
especially for growing children. These things we 






HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


58 

should not make a regular part of our diet. Some 

such articles to be avoided are the following: 

Hot bread or biscuits. They are hard to digest. 

Griddle cakes for breakfast. Cereals are better. 

All kinds of pie. Puddings, ice-cream and fruits 
are preferable. 

Fried meats of every kind. Meats should be 
broiled or baked. 

Fried potatoes, fried bread, fried mush or other 
fried foods. 

Candy, except at meal-time, or too much of 
sweets at any time. 

Ice-cream cones, sodas, or iced drinks at soda 
fountains between meals. 

Health Problems 

1. Report on Health Chores. 

2. Mary and Grace were each given fifteen cents with which to 
buy their lunch at noon when they go to school. Mary 
bought hot soup, a baked potato, and a slice of bread and 
butter and a small dish of ice-cream. Grace bought ten 
cents’ worth of candy and a sandwich. Who made the 
better bargain, and why? 

3. Henry says he doesn’t like cereal and cream or eggs for 

breakfast, but wants his mother to serve buckwheat cakes 
and sirup every morning. What do you think Henry’s mother 
ought to do about it? 

4 . Elizabeth likes fudge and she usually eats several pieces when 
she comes home from school; then she is not hungry for sup¬ 
per. What would you recommend? 


CHAPTER VIII 


LEARNING TO EAT 

Eating is so natural and easy that it seems strange 
to speak of learning to eat. Yet all of us have had to 
learn to eat. 

To understand this, you need but to observe the 
baby in his first attempts to feed himself. He often 
makes a rather sorry mess of things, and we excuse 
him by saying he will learn better by and by. 

Every one wants, of course, to be dainty and clean 
about his eating. For our manners and good breeding 
never stand out more plainly than when we are at the 
table. No one admires the greedy way in which pigs 
eat, nor would any one want it said of himself that 
‘‘he eats like a pig.” Well-bred people therefore learn 
to eat quietly, not making unnecessary noises as they 
chew or swallow their food. 

Why we should eat slowly. —Besides not being 
good manners, there is another reason why we should 
not eat rapidly. It takes time to chew one’s food and 
get it ready for swallowing. Food that is swallowed 
without proper chewing is not well mixed with the 
saliva. It comes to the stomach in coarse chunks. 

59 



6o 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


The stomach then has to work much harder to digest 
it than if it had been well chewed. In fact, some of the 
coarser lumps may never be digested at all, and hence 
much of their food value is lost and they cause indi¬ 
gestion. 

Chickens can gulp their food down, since they have 
gizzards. Chickens keep in their gizzards gravel, 
pieces of glass and other hard substances which help 
grind their food after it is swallowed. Since we do not 
have gizzards, we should not swallow our food without 
chewing, the way chickens do. 

When we are tempted to eat too much. —There 
is sometimes a temptation to eat too much at one 
time. Some day we find that mother has prepared 
shortcake, dumplings, or some pudding that we espe¬ 
cially like. We are very hungry, and it seems that we 
can not get enough of it. We eat and eat until we 
finally discover that we are somewhat uncomfortable. 
We feel sleepy and heavy, have a headache, or may 
even be ill after the meal. Indigestion may follow, 
with bitter doses of medicine. 

Of course this manner of eating is not good for us. 
Whenever the stomach is given more food than it needs 
or can take care of without distress, harm has been 
done. We have in some degree injured our health. 

Do you not think that stuffing ourselves in such a 
way also suggests somewhat the piggishness which we 
do not admire in our four-footed friends out in the 


LEARNING TO EAT 


61 


pen? It is a good rule to continue eating until we are 
no longer really hungry, but to stop when we could 
still eat a little more. 

Eating between meals. —What boy or girl has not 
sometimes become hungry between meals and run 
into the house begging mother for a “piece”! Under 
ordinary circumstances we should 
eat three good meals a day and not 
eat between meals. 

One can see the reason for this 
when he knows that the stomach 
requires several hours of hard work 
to digest the meal we usually eat. 

New food taken into the stomach 
disturbs the digestion of the food 
already there. 

Especially should we avoid the 
soda fountain habit. Of course we 
may like the good things that are 
sold there, but we would be much 
better off without most of them. 

They are bad for the digestion, and 
they spoil our appetite for the next 
meal. The soda fountain habit also leads us to spend 
money which would be better used for other things. 

Learning to control our desires. —We sometimes 
like a certain article of food that does not agree with 
us. Surely most of us can think of some such foods. 



“Piecing” between 
meals is not a good 
habit 




62 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


One schoolgirl remarked in my hearing that chocolate 
creams always made her sick, but that she liked them 
so well she was going to eat some. Do you not 
think she was rather weak and foolish? 

We may like peanuts or fudge or pickles, but that is 
no reason for eating them if they do not agree with us. 
We should be the masters of our appetites and not let 
them control us! 

Coffee and tea are not good drinks for us during 
the period of our growth. They are not true foods. 
They contain stimulants which the young do not 
need, and they have almost no nourishment to add 
to our growth or strength. Milk should be the chief 
drink with our meals. Every boy and girl who drinks 
coffee and tea instead of milk is hindering growth and 
full development. 

Learning to like certain foods. —There are certain 

foods that we must learn to like. When we first try 
them we do not like them, but after eating them for a 
time they become very palatable to us. I have a 
young friend who does not like potatoes. Another 
boy I know eats almost no vegetables; he says he does 
not like them. Perhaps some who study this book 
may not like eggs; others may balk at drinking milk; 
and still others may avoid meat. 

Often our dislike for some common article of food is 
a mere whim, or comes because we have not eaten it 
long enough to learn to like it. It is more than likely 


LEARNING TO EAT 


63 


that we could cure most of our dislikes of this kind by 
simply determining that we will eat the food, and that 
we will learn to like it. 

We should try to like all the common foods that 
other people are daily eating. We should have as few 
dislikes as possible. Cultivating the habit of eating 
many different varieties of food will give us better 
range for our diet. It will also save us from being 
finicky, and from making unnecessary trouble for 
those who provide our meals. 

Interesting things to do. —1. Make a list of the 
foods you do not like. Which of these are 
especially desirable foods? Are you willing to 
try learning to like them? 

2. Make a list of any foods that seem to disagree 
with you. Are you willing to keep from eating 
such foods? 

3. Are you in the habit of piecing between meals? 
If so, suppose you try eating just a little more 
at meal time and then determine not to eat 
between meals even if you do get hungry. You 
can soon break yourself of the bad habit. 

Good habits to form. —The following are some of 
the eating habits especially to be cultivated: 

Being quiet, orderly, dainty, cheerful and happy 
at the table. 

Learning to eat the foods others eat unless we 
find some that disagree with us. 


64 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Refusing to eat things we know are not good 
for us, even if we like them. This may include 
coffee or tea, candy, ice-cream cones or other 
such things between meals. 

Stopping short of over-eating even with foods 
we greatly like. 

Health Problems 

1. Report on Health Chores. 

2. When Margaret came home from the party she told her 
mother that she had had a good time except that she sat 
beside Jimmie at supper and that he “ate like a little pig.” 
What ought Jimmie to do about it? 

3. Tom said he had a good time at the party except that he 
ate too much and was uncomfortable. What do you sup¬ 
pose the hostess thought about Tom’s eating? 

4. How long should you chew each mouthful of food? 

5. Suppose you were asked to make five rules about how to 
conduct oneself at the table, what would they be? 

6. Last year Harry said he did not like either beets or celery. 
This year he likes both. He has learned to like them. 
What foods have you learned to like? 

7. What bad table habits have you observed (do not give 
names), and how should they be corrected? 

8. Are you at present trying to form any new good habits 
about eating, or to break any bad ones? 


CHAPTER IX 


GOOD AND BAD MICROBES 

Everybody has read fairy stories, and knows that 
some fairies are good and some are bad. It is likely 
that fairies are altogether make-believe, but I want to 
tell you a true story as wonderful as any fairy story. 
This is about tiny creatures that we call microbes . 

The microbes are all about us, though so small that 
we can not see them without a microscope. They 
float in the air; we draw many of them into the 
lungs with every breath. They swarm in the water 
we drink. They are found in our food. Hundreds of them 
are sticking to the feet of the fly which alights on our 
dish. 

Where microbes are found. —Microbes are also 
found in the soil. They cling to our bodies, and attach 
themselves to our clothing. They even enter our 
bodies, and are found in our blood, in our stomach, 
and in our lungs. They get into a scratch or a cut 
and cause it to fester. In fact it would be hard to find 
anywhere in the world a nook or corner which does 
not serve as the home for many millions of these very 
small beings. 

6q 


66 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Now some of the microbes belong to the animal 
kingdom, but most of them are plants. We shall be 
interested in our story chiefly in plant microbes, one 
great group of which are called bacteria. Whether 
we use the word microbe or the word bacteria , then you 
are to think of tiny plants too small to be seen. 

The work of microbes. —Most bacteria are harm¬ 
less, but a few bring us disease. Most help in pro¬ 
ducing our food, while a few kinds rob us of our food 
by taking it for themselves. 


Microbes which cause fruit to decay Microbes found in the mouth 

Yesterday I saw an example of the work of some of 
these robber plants. A small friend of mine was 
rummaging about the pantry shelf, possibly looking 
for the cookies. She found a piece of bread that had 
fallen behind a box and lain for several days in a warm, 
moist place. The bread was all covered over with a 
soft, furry looking growth that her mother told her 
was mold. 

The mold consists of a tiny forest of very small and 
nearly colorless plants. The spores (or seeds) of these 






GOOD AND BAD MICROBES 67 

little plants are everywhere floating in the air, and some 
of them had fallen on the piece of bread. They at 
once started to grow, like plants in your garden, and 
the bread was soon covered with a mass of mold. The 
mold plants were using the bread for their food, that 
was all. 

Difference between bacteria and green plants. 

—There are many different kinds of bacteria, prob¬ 
ably as many as there are of the green plants we see 
about us. But bacteria are all alike in one thing— 
they lack the substance called chlorophyl (klo' r6 fil) 
which makes the world of visible plants green. 

The color itself does not seem to be so very impor¬ 
tant, but the chlorophyl which causes the green color 
makes all the difference in the world. For it is the chlo¬ 
rophyl that enables the green plant to take its food 
from the air, the sunshine, the soil and water. 

The importance of this is readily understood when 
we stop to think that all the food for both animals and 
plants must come from these sources. No animal can 
get its food directly from air, sunshine, soil and water. 
Only plants can do this. Nor can any plant get its food 
in this way which does not have chlorophyl. 

What bacteria live upon. —But bacteria that our 
story deals with all lack chlorophyl. Only a few can 
live on air, sunshine and soil. The others must, just 
like ourselves, have organic food; that is, food coming 
from plants or the flesh of animals. 



68 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


This means that the bacteria must use the same foods 
that we use. Meat, vegetables, eggs, milk, fruit— 
these are foods we must have. But they are also the 
foods most favored by the bacteria. And there is there¬ 
fore a constant battle to see which will get the food, 
we or our bacteria enemies. 

For example, you pick a dozen choice apples and lay 
them away to ripen for Thanksgiving. When you 
come to get them you find that half of them have 



decayed and are not fit to be eaten. What has hap¬ 
pened? The bacteria got ahead of you! One of the 
apples may have had a tiny break in the skin when 
you laid . them away. The bacteria immediately 
attacked this point and began their growth. It was 
their work that caused the decay of your apples. 

Bacteria attacking our foods. —If we set away a 
roast of meat where the air is warm and moist enough 
for bacteria to grow, the meat soon “spoils.” This 
only means that the bacteria have set at work upon the 
meat and used it for their food. 







GOOD AND BAD MICROBES 


69 


Bacteria sometimes get into the fruit we can and 
cause it to “work” so that it spoils. They swarm 
into our sweet cider and make it “hard.” They attack 
our bottle of sweet milk and it has soon soured. In 
fact there is almost no article of our food that they 
do not seek to appropriate. 

Not satisfied with trying to get our food from us, the 
microbes even attack our bodies. Some of them live 
upon our skin, and cause such diseases as ring-worm. 
Others inhabit the stomach and intestines. Still others 


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Microbes which cause 

Microbes which 

Microbes which cause 

diphtheria 

cause grippe 

bubonic plague 


live in the mouth, feeding upon the particles of food 
left on the teeth and causing them to decay. 

Bacteria and disease. —Our worst microbe enemies 
are certain kinds that cause diseases when once they 
secure a hold within the body. We often speak of these 
microbes as “disease germs.” Let a certain kind of 
germ set up its growth in our lungs, and we soon 
have tuberculosis. Another kind brings us diphtheria, 
another scarlet fever, another measles, another is 
responsible for colds, sore throats, and pneumonia. 
And so on throughout most other diseases that cause 
us so much trouble. 



70 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


We are in a constant battle with the disease germs 
that threaten us. But if we follow a few simple direc¬ 
tions for keeping well and strong we have little cause 
for fear, for with right habits of living we can win 
in the battle most of the time. 

Bacteria that are our friends. —Nor must we make 
the mistake of thinking that all bacteria are our ene¬ 
mies. They are like the fairies, the most are good 
and a few are bad. Or they are like the green plants 
that grow round about us, some are friends and some 
are enemies. 

Some of the most friendly microbes live in the soil. 
Without them we could not raise our crops. Others 
work in the cream and make it ready for churning, 
and still others give the delicate flavor to butter. 

We could not make cheese without microbes. The 
vinegar we use is a microbe product. Microbes im¬ 
mediately set at work upon any bit of refuse or dead 
matter. They cause it to decay, and soon make it 
harmless. With this decayed matter they feed the 
plants. In these and a score of other ways certain 
kinds of bacteria are good fairies. 

Perhaps we may say of microbes, like the “little 
girl with a curl”—when they are good they are very 
good, and when they are bad they are horrid! 

Interesting things to do. — i. You can easily try 
an interesting experiment in growing a crop of 
mold. Put a piece of bread or of apple on a 




GOOD AND BAD MICROBES 


7i 


plate and cover it over with a glass. The air 
must be somewhat moist. Now set away for sev¬ 
eral days in a rather dark place, since molds do 
not grow so well in the light. Study the mold, 
when it has appeared, with a magnifying-glass. 

2. Squeeze the juice out of an apple and set it away 
in a warm place for several days, j Has it become 
sour? What causes it to sour? If you will put a 
few drops of acid in the apple juice it will not 
sour, because the acid kills the bacteria. This 
is the way sweet cider is kept from becoming 
“hard.” 

3. The bacteria that cause diphtheria and other 
diseases are sometimes found in the mouths of 
healthy persons. Decaying teeth are swarming 
with bacteria. Do you think, then, that it is a 
good habit to put pencils or pens into our 
mouths to act as carriers of these germs? Watch 
yourself to see whether you have this habit. 

Health Problems 

1. After reading this lesson what reasons can you give why a 
common drinking cup should not be used at school or other 
public places? 

2 . A closed tank for drinking water at a school was not cleaned 
out for several weeks. Then it was found to have a bad 
smell. How do you suppose the bad smell was caused? 




6 


CHAPTER X 


PROTECTING OUR FOOD FROM MICROBES 

Last week a friend invited me to visit with him a 
great packing plant from which tons of beef, pork 
and mutton are daily shipped to the city markets. 

After watching the various processes by which the 
meat is prepared, we were taken into a room where 
we were given heavy overcoats to put on. Then we 
were led into the large refrigerating rooms where the 
meat is kept in cold storage. 

Here we saw great quantities of meat hanging on 
large racks many feet in length. Although the weather 
was warm outside, the room was so cold that we could 
see our breath, and frost hung thick on the walls. 

Our guide told us that the carcasses of beef, pork 
and mutton were often kept for months in these cold 
storage rooms before being shipped to the markets 
for our tables. 

Why we keep food in the refrigerator. —One 

might think that meat kept so long would spoil, but it 

does not. In fact it would remain sweet and fresh for 

years if the temperature of the storage room was kept 

slightly below the freezing point. For in this low 

72 




PROTECTING OUR FOOD FROM MICROBES 73 

temperature bacteria can not grow, and without 
bacteria the meat will not spoil. 

We use the same principle in our home refrigerators 
as in the cold storage rooms of the packing plant. 
True, we can not cool our refrigerators to the freezing 
point with ice. But we can make 
them so cool that the growth of 
the bacteria is very slow. Foods 
will therefore keep in them for 
several days without spoiling. 

Why dried foods will not 
spoil. —Not only must bacteria 
have warmth for their growth, 
but they must also have mois¬ 
ture. In certain desert or arid 
regions where the air is very dry, 
meat and other foods can be kept 
in the open air without spoiling. 

On the dry plains of Arizona 
fresh meat is hung up in the sun¬ 
shine, where it quickly “cures” 
by drying. The atmosphere has so little moisture 
that bacteria do not grow readily enough to cause 
the meat to decay. 

One of the most common methods of defeating 
bacteria is by drying our foods so that the bacteria 
can not grow upon them. Great quantities of fruits 
and vegetables are preserved in this way every year. 


The black specks show 
the germs revealed by the 
microscope on a drinking 
glass which had been used 
by many people in a pub¬ 
lic place. A small section 
of the glass, when put 
under a more powerful 
magnifier, showed the 
swarm of germs appear¬ 
ing in the next picture 





74 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 



Once such foods are well dried, they may be safely 
packed away without fear of the bacteria. 

Defeating bacteria by canning foods. —When we 
can our fruit or vegetables, we first boil them. This 
not only cooks the food, but also kills all the bacteria. 

While the product we are canning 
is still very hot, we seal the jar or 
can quickly so that fresh bacteria 
can not enter. If we do our work 
successfully, the fruit or vegetables 
will then keep as long as we wish. 

If canned fruit or vegetables 
spoil in the cans, we may know 
that some bacteria were left alive 
when the food was canned, or else 
that they have got in after the 
canning was completed, and have 
set up their growth. 

You may have noticed that 
when a can of fruit begins to fer¬ 
ment soon after it is canned, youi 
mother sometimes empties it out and cooks it over 
again. She then cans it a second time. The cook¬ 
ing process kills the bacteria which had begun their 
work. If no fresh ones are allowed to enter, the 
fruit will keep. 

Cleanliness an enemy of bacteria.— Fresh milk 
that is put into bottles or cans which have had sour 




r /*' 

A highly magnified sec¬ 
tion from the drinking 
glass shown on page 73. 
These are germs left from 
the lips of many persons 
who drank from the glass. 
Who wants to take into 
his mouth the germs com¬ 
ing from the mouths of 
others? 


PROTECTING OUR FOOD FROM MICROBES 75 

milk in them will sour very quickly if the bottles or 
cans are not thoroughly washed and scalded. This is 
because the particles of the sour milk contain millions 
of bacteria, which immediately begin to work in the 
new milk. This starts it to souring. 

Any dish into which food is put must therefore be 
perfectly clean if we wish the food to keep. Not only 
must the ordinary dust and dirt be removed, but also 
the bacteria which might start the food to decay. 

Two ways to kill bacteria. —A number of different 
kinds of disease germs are often carried in water or in 
milk. A recent epidemic of typhoid fever was traced 
to the milk coming from a certain dairy. Typhoid 
germs had got into the water with which the milk cans 
and pails were washed, and were thus carried to the 
customers who bought the milk. This caused the 
death of a number of people. 

Another typhoid epidemic was traced to the germs 
from a sewer which overflowed into the water supply 
of a city. 

Tuberculosis is often carried to children in the milk 
which comes from tubercular cows. 

If there is any suspicion that germs have got into 
the water supply, the water should be boiled before it 
is drunk. Milk that contains disease germs should be 
boiled or pasteurized. 

To pasteurize milk it is kept at a temperature of 
149 degrees Fahrenheit for twenty minutes, or 176 



HYGIENE AND HEALTH' 


76 

degrees for five minutes. This heating is sufficient to 
kill the germs of tuberculosis. 

Interesting problems to solve. —1. Having in 
mind that the tiny plants that we call bacteria 
require warmth and moisture for their growth 
the same as green plants, see whether you can 
answer these questions: 

(a) Why do we store our winter supply of 
apples and potatoes in a cool, dry place? 

(b) Why do peaches, pears, apples and other 
fruit sometimes rot on the trees in a very 
wet, hot season? 

(c) Why will dried beef or potato chips keep 
without spoiling? 

2. A young man I knew was out hunting with a 
companion. They became very thirsty, and my 
friend proposed that they drink from a small 
creek they were crossing. His companion 
objected that it was not very clean, but my 
friend drank. In about two weeks he came 
down with typhoid, from which he died. It 
was later found that drainage reached this 
stream from a place where there was typhoid. 
What would this case suggest to you about 
drinking from streams or ponds? 

3. Why will milk put into a can that has not been 
thoroughly cleaned, sour more quickly than if 
put in a can that has been scalded? 



CHAPTER XI 


WHY WE SHOULD GET RID OF FLIES 

A friend remarked to me the other day that “swat 
the fly” has become the great American motto. Cer¬ 
tain it is at least that we have declared war on the 

fly. 

Let us give the fly no quarter. For flies are always 
our enemies. They are themselves dirty, and they are 
carriers of filth. They breed in vile refuse. They eat 
everything that is repulsive and unclean, and they 
always have filthy feet. 

The fly is always dirty. —The fly that comes sip¬ 
ping out of the edge of your glass of milk, or the one 
that comes crawling over the sugar on your berry dish 
has probably come from the dirtiest things imaginable 
directly to your dinner table. No wonder that we 
Want to “swat the fly.” 

Flies are not only dirty, but they also carry disease 
germs. The flies that you see swarming over the fruit 
which the peddler or grocer has for sale may just have 
come from drinking out of the sewer. And the sewer 
may contain the germs of typhoid fever. 

77 



78 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


The fly carries disease. —Such germs cling to the 
fly’s feet and mouth; he can carry hundreds of them. 
These he distributes over the fruit when he crawls 
upon it. Then if you buy the fruit and eat it without 
cleaning it, you are in danger of taking these typhoid 



The fly is not only disgusting, but dangerous. He carries both filth and 

disease about with him 


or other germs into your mouth and contracting the 
disease. 

There is no doubt that hundreds and perhaps thou¬ 
sands of people are killed every year by diseases which 
are carried by the flies. 

The other day I was walking along the street and 
came upon a disgusting mass of sputum which some- 






















WHY WE SHOULD GET RID OF FLIES 79 

body had spit from his mouth after coughing. There 
were a dozen flies around the edge of it eating the 
horrid stuff. When they were disturbed by some one 
coming past, they flew away and half of them imme¬ 
diately alighted upon fruit in a peddler’s cart at the 
edge of the sidewalk. Two of them crawled inside the 
open mouth of a sack of candy and finished their meal 
upon it. 

Who knows how many tuberculosis germs those 
flies brought from their disgusting meal and tracked 
over the apples and candy which children would 
afterwards eat! Not only should we get rid of flies 
as fast as we can, but we should never eat food that 
has been exposed where flies can get at it. 

Shutting the flies out.— Besides 1 ‘swatting” flies 
wherever we find them in our houses, there are two 
other ways of getting rid of them. One way is to have 
screens upon our doors and windows and not let the 
flies get in. Our houses should be carefully screened 
whenever the flies are bad. 

But a still better way than either “swatting” them 
or shutting them out is to quit raising them. With a 
little care on the part of everybody it would be very 
easy to get rid of all the flies, so that there would be 
hardly one left to trouble us. 

Preventing flies from hatching. —For flies always 
hatch in filth or some decaying matter. The mother 
fly lays her eggs preferably in a pile of manure. If 



8 o 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


manure is not at hand, a rotting straw stack or some 
other filth will do. 



Flies hatch in manure or rubbish, live upon all that is filthy, and then 
come to our tables and get into our food 


In about ten days the eggs hatch into worm-like 
maggots. After a little time the maggots grow wings 
and legs and become full-grown flies. 




























WHY WE SHOULD GET RID OF FLIES 3 i 


Now since flies are so short-lived, few of them living 
over the first winter, it is clear that if we can stop 
hatching fly eggs, we shall soon be without flies. And 
since it takes the eggs from a week to ten days to 
hatch out in a manure pile, it is evident that if the 
manure from our stables, or other rubbish in which 
flies hatch, is cleared away promptly, then the flies’ 
eggs would not have a chance to hatch. 

In cities where laws have been passed requiring that 
all rubbish shall be kept cleaned up and hauled away 
or burned, it has been found that after a year or two 
there are few flies left. What flies still remain are 
hatched in rubbish heaps which have in some way 
escaped notice of the health officers. 

How boys and girls can help. —But as long as 
there are flies it is the duty of every boy and girl to 
help shut them out of our homes, and to help trap and 
kill them when they gqt inside. And of course we 
shall always want to see that no food is left uncovered 
where flies can get it. For nobody wants to eat after 
a fly! 

Fruit, vegetables, bread or other food should not be 
left uncovered in stores and markets so that flies can 
get at it. Many states and cities now have laws 
requiring that foods offered for sale in the markets 
shall be kept in cases away from the flies. What is 
the law in your state or town? Are foods in the markets 
protected from flies? 



82 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Facts to remember about flies. — i. Flies always 
leave filth of one kind or another on our food 
when they crawl over it. For flies hatch in 
filth, live in filth, eat filth. 

2. Flies are one of the most dangerous carriers of 
disease germs. We should never eat food that 
has come from markets where there are flies, 
unless we first clean the food. 

3. Most flies are hatched in manure piles. Clean 
up the manure every two weeks or oftener, and 
there will be few flies. It is possible that this 
can not always be done around barns in the 
country, but it can in towns and cities. 

Health Problems 

I. Why are flies so much more plentiful late in the season than 
early in the season? 

2 c A certain town which has many dirty alleys and barns with 
manure heaps is offering a prize for trapping flies. Another 
town near by has a law against dirty alleys and manure 
heaps. Which town is more likely to rid itself of flies? 

$0 Notice the market places and shops of your town to see 
how many places protect the food for sale from flies. Ought 
this question to make any difference where you do your 
buying? 

4. If you live in the country, what can you do to prevent the 
hatching of flies? Talk with your father and mother about 
this. 


CHAPTER XII 


PROTECTION AGAINST MOSQUITOES 

Mosquitoes have always been looked upon as 
enemies because their sting is so unpleasant. The 
poison in their sting also causes lumps to swell on the 
skin of many people. 

A very much worse crime than this has been fastened 
upon mosquitoes, however. The mosquito has been 
found to be the carrier of yellow fever, malaria, and 
perhaps other diseases. The way this crime was 
proved on the mosquito is an interesting story. 

Yellow fever carried by mosquitoes. —When in 
the year 1898 the United States was at war with Spain, 
our army was stationed in Cuba where yellow fever was 
raging. The army doctors already believed the mos¬ 
quito to be the carrier of yellow fever. They deter¬ 
mined to find out for sure whether it was carried by 
mosquitoes from yellow fever patients to well persons, 
or whether the disease was caught by germs carried in 
the air or upon clothing. 

So the army doctors built a small house, and screened 
all its windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out. 
They brought straight from the beds of patients 

83 


84 HYGIENE AND HEALTH 



smitten with yellow 
fever soiled sheets, 
pillow cases and 
blankets to use as 
bedding. A number 
of brave soldiers vol¬ 
unteered to live in 
this house and use 
the bedding from 
the yellow fever pa¬ 
tients. They stayed 
here for about three weeks, but not one of them took 
the disease. 


The mosquito common to the North. 
Note the position of the body and legs 
when at rest 


The doctors then obtained another house in which 
everything was as clean as could be, with not an 
article in it that had been near yellow fever. In 


this house were placed 
another brave group of 
soldiers, ready to risk 
their lives to find out the 
truth about yellow fever 
and the mosquitoes. 

Mosquitoes were al¬ 
lowed to suck the blood 
of yellow fever patients 
and then were turned 
loose in the room 
where the soldiers were. 



position of the body and legs 









PROTECTION AGAINST MOSQUITOES 85 

More than half of those bitten by the yellow fever 
mosquitoes took the disease, and some of them died. 
Do you not think that these soldiers were true heroes! 

Another count against mosquitoes. —Another 
disease known as malaria , or fever and ague, is car¬ 
ried by mosquitoes. For many years it has been 
known that malaria occurs more or less in all warm 
climates, especially in hot weather after rains and near 
marshes where water stands stagnant. It was formerly 
thought that the disease was taken by breathing air 
poisoned in some way by the hot, stagnant marshes. 
But finally it was discovered that only the mosquitoes 
are to blame for carrying malaria. 

When the building of the Panama Canal was under¬ 
taken by the United States, it was at first difficult to 
get workmen. They were afraid of malaria and yellow 
fever. And they had good right to be, for thousands 
of people died in this region every year from these 
diseases. 

Getting rid of mosquitoes. —But Surgeon General 
Gorgas undertook to drive the mosquitoes out so that 
it might be safe for our workmen. He drained the 
marshes. He poured oil upon ponds and in ditches 
which could not be drained. In every way possible 
he destroyed the breeding places of mosquitoes. He 
soon got ahead of the mosquitoes, and Panama region 
was made as healthful as any part of our own country. 
Yellow fever and malaria almost disappeared. 



86 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


There is a certain kind of a mosquito that carries 
yellow fever, and another kind that carries malaria. 
The former of these mosquitoes can not live except in 

very warm climates, 
but we find the ma¬ 
laria mosquito in the 
northern states as 
well as in the South. 
Mosquitoes of any 
kind are undesirable, 
however, and should 
not be allowed where 
it is possible to de¬ 
stroy them. 

Breeding places 
of mosquitoes.— 

Mosquitoes breed in 
stagnant water, in 
ponds, ditches, pud¬ 
dles, rain barrels, or 
even open vessels or 
dishes of water out¬ 
side. 

The wrigglers that you have seen in the rain barrel 
after it has stood for ten days or two weeks, are the 
larvae of mosquitoes. They will soon hatch out and 
be flying about stinging you as a reward for having 
allowed them to hatch. 



A. A mass of mosquito eggs. B. Mos¬ 
quito larvae (wrigglers) which have 
hatched from the eggs. C and D. 
Stages of growth. E. The mosquito 






























































PROTECTION AGAINST MOSQUITOES 87 

Helping destroy mosquitoes. —Boys and girls can 
help prevent mosquitoes around their homes by 
seeing that there is no stagnant water left unscreened 
for them to get into. Puddles can be filled with dirt. 
Small ditches can be opened to allow the water to 
drain off. Small ponds where mosquitoes breed may 
have a little kerosene poured on them. This will 
kill the larvae and no mosquitoes will hatch. 

Facts to remember about mosquitoes. —1. Yel¬ 
low fever and malaria are carried by mosquitoes. 
Where there are no mosquitoes there is no 
yellow fever nor malaria. 

2. Mosquitoes are an annoyance even when they 
do not carry disease. Their stings contain 
enough poison to cause swelling and soreness 
on the flesh of most persons. 

3. Mosquitoes hatch in swamps, marshes, pools 
and puddles, or other stagnant water. Even a 
rain barrel or a can of water may serve as a 
hatching place for hundreds of them. To get 
rid of mosquitoes, prevent their hatching. 

Health Problems 

1. It has been noticed that as a new region of country is settled 
and the land drained and put under cultivation, there are 
fewer mosquitoes. Why? 

2. There are more mosquitoes during rainy seasons than dry 

seasons. Why? . 

3. Are you keeping up with the Health Chores? 

4. Have you noticed mosquitoes at your home? If so, try to 
find out where they come from. 


7 




CHAPTER XIII 


THE AIR AND BREATHING 

Why does a person drown when he is under water? 
Surely the water itself does not hurt the lungs. No, 
what the water does is to shut the air out of the lungs. 
It is the want of air that really causes the death of the 
drowning person. 

We eat only three times a day. We drink water 
every two or three hours. But we must breathe air 
into our lungs every moment day and night as long 
as we live. 

Experiments in breathing. —Sit down with a 
watch before you. Breathe naturally, and count the 
number of times you breathe in one minute. About 
eighteen or twenty times? If you try holding your 
breath, you find after a few seconds that you become 
very uncomfortable. You are obliged to give it up 
and go to breathing again. No one can live for more 
than a few minutes without air. 

Since air is so necessary for our lives, it is well that 
it is so plentiful. We live at the bottom of a great 
ocean of air, as fish live in the ocean of water. 

This air ocean is so deep that it extends upward 

88 


THE AIR AND BREATHING 


89 


scores of miles above the earth. We find it every¬ 
where. It sweeps about us in great currents that we 
call winds and storms. It creeps through the doors 
and windows into our houses. It passes through our 
clothing and bathes the body. It fills every corner, 
nook, and crevice all about us. It even finds its way 
into the soil and helps in the growth of plants. 

Air enough for all.—One would think that because 
air is so plentiful and so free, every one might have all 
the air he needs. Yet there are many people who do 
not get enough good air, and who are suffering for 
want of it as they would starve for want of food. 

Those who work in poorly ventilated shops or down 
in mines show by their pale faces that they do not 
get good air. The crowded street-car -with its 
windows all closed, the stuffy school room, or the 
bedroom in which the windows are not opened at 
night is robbing us of the air we need for our health 
and growth. 

What the air does for the body. —The air that 
we take into the lungs does two important things for 
us: it supplies the body with oxygen , and it carries 
away carbon dioxide. 

The fire that burns in your furnace is produced by 
the oxygen of the air uniting with the carbon of the 
coal. When you want your fire to burn faster you 
let in more oxygen by opening the draft; when you 
want it to burn more slowly you shut out the oxy- 



90 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


gen. If you shut out all the oxygen the fire will go 
out. 

Oxygen is as necessary to our bodies as it is to the 
fire in the furnace. No living thing can exist without 
it. The more oxygen an animal breathes the more 
actively alive it is. If you will catch a mouse and put 
it into a jar to which has been added an extra amount 
of oxygen, you will be surprised at the liveliness of 
your mouse. It will jump and dance and spring about 
and be very merry indeed. The extra oxygen makes 
it very much alive. 

How the oxygen works. —The oxygen that is 
breathed into the lungs is picked up by little red 
bodies in the blood, called corpuscles, and carried to 
every part of the body. Wherever worn-out or dead 
tissue is found, the oxygen unites with the carbon of 
the dead tissue precisely as it does with the coal in the 
furnace, and burns it up. It is this burning up of the 
body’s worn-out tissues that makes the tiny fires men¬ 
tioned in a preceding chapter. And it is these fires 
that keep up the heat of the body. 

The fire burning in the furnace produces a gas, 
which escapes up the chimney. This gas is carbon 
dioxide. The burning up of the waste tissues in the 
body by the action of oxygen produces carbon dioxide 
exactly like that from the furnace. 

Getting rid of carbon dioxide. —This carbon diox¬ 
ide is carried by the blood to the lungs, where it is 




THE AIR AND BREATHING 


9i 


breathed out with the air that is expelled. If it is not 
properly removed from the body it acts as a poison 
just as if one should breathe coal gas or illuminating 
gas. If you treat the mouse in your jar to air containing 
too much carbon dioxide it will soon curl up in the 
bottom of the jar and die. 

The amount of oxygen supplied the body and the 
amount of carbon dioxide removed depends on two 
things: 

(1) Whether we have an abundance of pure fresh 
air to breathe. 

(2) The size of our lungs and how we use them in 
breathing. 

The size of our lungs. —If your lungs are well 
developed they should be able to hold about five pints 
of air when they are entirely full. If you have stooped 
shoulders and a hollow chest, if you do not breathe 
deeply, or if you do not exercise freely in the open air 
it is possible that your lungs do not hold more than 
four pints, or even three pints. 

One whose lungs are not doing their work well can 
never be up to his full strength and vigor. He lacks 
endurance. He takes cold easily, and is subject to 
diseases in general. He is more liable to tuberculosis, 
for it is in the little used portions of the lungs that 
the disease germs begin their work. 

It is worth while to know how to breathe right. 
Press your hands against your body just below the 



92 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


ribs. When you breathe clear to the bottom of your 
lungs you can feel the body expand at this point. If 
you fill only the upper part of your lungs, you will 
feel little or no expansion. Be sure to force the air 
to the very bottom of your lungs. 

Giving our lungs a fair chance. —It is well to 

take several minutes now and then for deep breathing. 
While standing in the fresh air, see how full you can 
fill your lungs, and how deep you can make the air 
go down. But better still is to form the habit of 
breathing deep and full all the time. This will require 
that we be careful not to sit or stand in such postures 
that the lungs will be crowded or cramped. 

Best of all, however, is plenty of good exercise in 
the open air. Run a block at your best clip, or take 
a running start and see how far you can jump. Then 
notice how deep and full you are breathing. 

Count the rate of your breathing just before and 
just after such exercise. Do you not think that all 
the cells of your lungs are sure to be put into use 
when you run or play or work? Exercise also makes 
our tissues hungry for oxygen, so that what the lungs 
take in is freely used. 

Adenoids. —Sometimes a growth called an adenoid 
occurs at the back part of the nose cavity. This hin¬ 
ders breathing and causes one to breathe through his 
mouth. Besides interfering with proper breathing, 
adenoids are bad for the health in other ways, and 



THE AIR AND BREATHING 


2 . 


93 

should be removed by the doc¬ 
tor. This can be done without 
much trouble or pain. 

If one finds difficulty in 
breathing with his mouth closed 
either day or night, he should 
have his nose examined for an 
adenoid. Adenoids hinder the 
growth, make one dull mentally, 
injure the shape of the mouth, 
and make the face and eyes take 
on a stupid expression. 

Questions and experi¬ 

ments. — i. Do you often 
have a cold in your head? 
Does your nose get stopped 
up so that it is hard to 
breathe? Do your nose 

passages ever feel dry and 
burning? If any of these troubles occur often 
you should have the doctor examine your nose. 
Some simple treatment taken in time might save 
you serious trouble later. 

One of the best tests of health and vigor is the 
amount of air one’s lungs will hold. This is 
measured by an instrument called the spirometer 
(spl-rom'-e-ter). One blows into the spirometer 
tube and the record shows how many cubic 



Note the growth of adenoids 
at the back of the nose cav¬ 
ity, and how they block the 
passage way of air to the 
lungs 



94 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


inches of air he can force out in one breath. 
If there is a spirometer available, test your 
lung capacity. 

3. Another test of the capacity of your lungs is 
the number of inches you can expand your 
chest. Have some one hold a tape line drawn 
rather snugly around your chest just under the 
arms. Take your measure first with all the air 
breathed out, making your chest just as small as 
possible. Then take your measure again while 
you breathe your lungs very full, making your 
chest as large as you can. The difference be¬ 
tween these two measures is your chest expan¬ 
sion. Compare your expansion with the table 
below: 

Chest expansion for boys should be: 


At 10 years of age. 2.75 inches 

At 11 years of age. 2.90 inches 

At 12 years of age. 3.05 inches 

At 13 years of age. 3.25 inches 

Chest expansion for girls should be: 

At 10 years of age. 2.4 inches 

At 11 years of age. 2.6 inches 

At 12 years of age. 2.45 inches 

At 13 years of age. 2.6 inches 










CHAPTER XIV 


LIVING IN GOOD AIR 

Air that has been breathed and re-breathed several 
times is no longer capable of sustaining life. Following 
the battle of Austerlitz three hundred Austrian pris¬ 
oners were shut up in a little prison far too small for 
the number, and with but little ventilation. Within 
one day two hundred and sixty of them had died from 
heat and the want of fresh air. 

Another instance of this kind occurred in 1848 
when the master of an English ship shut one hundred 
steerage passengers in a room not more than half the 
size of an ordinary school room. They soon became 
frantic for want of air, and seventy-two of them had 
died before they forced their way out of the room. 

The “Black Hole” of Calcutta is the name given 
to a prison in Calcutta where years ago the Hindoos 
shut one hundred and forty-six British prisoners whom 
they had captured in battle. The room where they 
were imprisoned was small and had only two windows. 
They soon felt the lack of air, and the stronger fought 
their way to the windows. When morning came only 
twenty-three were left alive. 

95 


96 HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

k 

Suffering for want of air. — Of course, we no 
longer treat prisoners in this way. It is very seldom 
indeed that a person dies directly from lack of 
enough air to breathe. We may all suffer greatly in 
health and strength, however, from over-crowded 
school rooms, moving picture houses that are packed 
too full, or even from several persons sleeping in a bed¬ 
room that does not have its windows open. 

Plenty of open air is so important to our health and 
to the development of our minds that nearly every 
large city now has what are called “open-air school 
rooms.” These rooms are built with one side entirely 
open or else with windows so fixed that the entire side 
of the room can be thrown open. 

Open-air schools. —In these open-air rooms are 
placed the children who have some sickness or who 
are backward in their studies, so that it is especially 
necessary for them to have plenty of good air to 
breathe. The boys and girls are bundled up warmly 
and here they get their lessons just as if they were in 
an ordinary school room. 

It has been found that boys and girls always do bet¬ 
ter work in the open-air schools than they do in the 
closed school rooms. They also improve in health and 
gain rapidly in weight and strength. If plenty of fresh 
air is good for those who are sick or backward, do you 
not think it is just as necessary for those who are well 
and strong? 



LIVING IN GOOD AIR 


97 


Giving the skin fresh air. —The skin requires an 
abundance of fresh air, just as do the lungs. The 
story is told that years ago at some great festival 
a child was wanted to represent an angel. They took 
a small boy and coated his body over closely on the 



An open-air school in winter-time. The warm wraps and hoods 
keep the children as comfortable as in a heated school room, though 

the snow lies deep outside 


skin with gold foil. After a few hours it was found that 
the child had died. He had had plenty of air for his lungs, 
but he also needed air for his skin, and also his skin 
could not do its other work with every pore clogged up. 

Between the clothing and the body there is con¬ 
stantly a thin blanket of air. This air soon becomes 
heated to the temperature of the body and also grows 



98 HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

impure from the waste matter that comes through the 
skin. 

Good ventilation requires moving air. —You may 

have noticed that if you become tired and sleepy from 
sitting in a close room, you feel wonderfully refreshed 



School in the open air, where both lungs and skin can have all they 

need—no dust, no dirt, no germs 

when the window is thrown open and a current of air 
is allowed to pour through the room. This feeling of 
refreshment is caused not more by the air that comes 
to the lungs than by that which flows over the surface 
of the body. 

Good ventilation therefore requires a moving cur¬ 
rent of air in the room. This current need not be 







LIVING IN GOOD AIR 


99 


strong enough that we shall feel a draft, but it must 
be sufficient to change the layer of air next the body. 

One of the best ways to secure a moving current of 
air in a room is by having an open fireplace, through 
which a current of air constantly passes up the chimney 
and out of the room. A window may be opened slightly 
at the bottom on one side of the room, and another 
window opened at the top on another side, thus creat¬ 
ing a current across the room. 

Air that is too dry. —It is possible to have the air 
in our houses too dry to be good for the lungs or the 
skin. When our houses are heated by stoves and 
furnaces, or by steam radiators in the winter-time, the 
air usually becomes so dry that furniture, doors, and 
other wood-work shrink and show cracks. 

Whenever the air dries out in this way it is bad for 
the throat and lungs. It makes the membranes of the 
nose feel dry and smarting. We are then more liable 
to colds, catarrh, pneumonia, tonsillitis, and other 
troubles. 

How to keep air moist. —If we have steam radia¬ 
tors, we can hang at the back of the radiator an open 
pan of water to evaporate in the room. The water 
pan should be fitted into our hot-air furnaces so that 
the vapor may come into the room with the air. Pans 
of water may also be set in the registers so that it 
will evaporate into the room. If a stove or fireplace 


) 

T> ) 
) 


9 ) » 


> 




IOO 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


is running, it is well to keep a kettle of water over the 
fire so that the steam may escape and add to the 
moisture. 

The hygrometer is an instrument for measuring the 
amount of moisture in the air. The air in our living 



If all workmen had as clean and pleasant a place to work there would 

be less sickness 


rooms should show about 60 degrees of moisture on 
the hygrometer. 

The right temperature. —Many people keep the 
temperature of their rooms too high. When we are 
sitting still reading or studying, the air temperature 
should usually range from 65 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. 
It should never pass 70. If we are moving about or 
working in a room the temperature may be still lower. 














LIVING IN GOOD AIR 


IOI 


It is not necessary that the temperature shall 
remain the same at all times. We can become accus¬ 
tomed to a difference of as much as io degrees so that 
we will not feel any discomfort from it. If we thus 
become used to changing temperatures, we will not so 
easily take cold nor feel the discomforts when we go 
out-of-doors or are in places where the temperature 
is cooler than we are accustomed to. 

Interesting questions and experiments. —i. The 

experts tell us that school rooms should have 
about two hundred and fifty cubic feet of air 
space for each pupil. It will be interesting for 
you to find out whether your school room meets 
this requirement. Measure the room, find the 
number of cubic feet it contains, and divide this 
number by the number of pupils. The quotient 
should be at least 250. 

2. Do you ever notice any closeness, stuffiness, or 
bad odor when you come into the school room 
or into your living rooms at home? If so, this 
indicates poor ventilation. If the ventilation is 
not good, can you help plan how to improve it? 

3. Let each member of the class make a record of 
the winter temperature of the living room of his 
home in the morning just before he comes to 
school each day for a week, do the same at noon, 
and also in the evening at a certain hour. At the 
end of one week of observations, compare the 



102 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


4 - 


results from the different homes to see whether 


the temperature is higher than it ought to be. 
If you have this lesson when the furnaces are 
running, note whether the doors, casings and 
furniture in your home show the effect of 


drying out. If they do 
air is too dry for good 



The wrong way to place a bed 
in the sleeping room. There is 
little circulation of air in the 


you may know that the 
health. 



r — 

The right way to place a bed. 
The air will circulate freely 
over it 


corner 


5. Moist air feels as warm at 60 degrees as very 
dry air feels at 70 degrees. What effect upon 
the amount of coal required to heat your home 
would it have to keep the air moist rather than 
to let it become too dry? 

Good air habits.—Some good habits to form in 
connection with the study of this lesson are the 
following: 
























LIVING IN GOOD AIR 


103 

To live in an abundance of fresh air every moment, 
day and night whenever possible. 

To see that there is a moving current of air in which 
you sit or work or sleep. Unless there is a 
special ventilating system this will require open 
windows or an open fireplace. 

To train yourself to be comfortable if you are well 
and strong in a room in which the temperature is 
from 60 to 65 degrees. 

To plan some way of adding moisture to the air in 
your home or school during the time when steam 
heat or furnaces are used. 

Health Problems 

1. Most cities forbid the use of any fuel that causes a heavy 
smoke. What reasons can you give in favor of such a law? 

2. Are you getting enough good air to breathe: (1) at night, 
(2) at school? How do you know? 

3. John boasts that he has not had a cold for over a year. 
George has a cold much of the time. John sleeps with his 
windows both wide open. George does not open his win¬ 
dow in cold weather. Do you suppose the windows have 
something to do with it? 

4. If you had to breathe a good deal of dust with the air you 
take into your lungs, would you rather breathe city or 
country dust? Why? 


8 


CHAPTER XV 


THE HEART AND ITS WORK 

You open the water faucet and the water comes 
rushing out of the pipes. But where does the power 
come from that makes the water pour out with such 
force? If you will trace the matter back to the water 
station, you will find there a pump, probably run by 
steam power. It is the pump that is driving the 
water through the pipes of the water system. 

The heart, with the arteries and veins, is much like 
the water pump and the pipes that carry the water 
to our homes. 

The heart a pump. —-The heart is really a pump. 
It differs from the water pump, for it has within itself 
the power that does the pumping. The heart is a 
muscle about as big as your fist. It is located on the 
left side of the chest. 

The heart never stops to rest; it rests between beats. 
It continues its work day and night without ceasing 
from the time we are born until we die. Every hour 
of the day, every minute, it is driving the blood 
through the arteries and veins all over the body. 

The boys and girls who read this chapter have about 

104 


THE HEART AND ITS WORK 


I0 5 


•four quarts of blood in their bodies. Grown men 
have about six quarts. 


The flow of the 


blood. —Put your fin¬ 
ger on the pulse in 
your wrist and count 
* the number of times 
the heart throbs in a 
minute. The throb of 
your pulse is the wave 
of blood in the artery 
caused by the beating 
of the heart, one throb 
for every heart beat. 
You will probably find 
that your heart is 
beating about eighty 
times in a minute. 



/An Artery 


'A Vein 


The heart with its arteries and veins 


At each beat the 
heart contracts and 
forces blood from its 
cavity out into the 
arteries. So rapidly 
and strongly does the 

heart work that all of the blood of your body makes 
the complete circuit about three times every minute. 
It takes a little longer for the blood to get clear 
around the body in a grown man, in whose body the 





106 HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

circuit is made only about two and one-half times in 
a minute. 

When the body calls for more oxygen. —Every¬ 
body has noticed, of course, that the heart beats 
faster when we run or exercise than when we are sit¬ 
ting still. The heart increases in speed at such times 
because when we are exercising we are using up energy * 
faster than when we are quiet. The tissues need 
more oxygen and there is more carbon dioxide to be 
removed. This means that the heart must work 
faster, so it speeds up. 

Sometime when you have been running a race or 
playing hard in a game, you have got completely out 
of breath. Your lungs felt full, as if they were bursting. 
You simply could not get enough air to breathe. Per¬ 
haps your lungs had shooting pains in them. 

Why we get out of breath. —Now this trouble does 
not originally come from the lungs, but from the heart. 
When the heart is able to give the lungs plenty of 
blood, one does not thus get out of breath. It would 
be fair to say, therefore, that our breath is as long as 
our heart is strong. 

When we get badly out of breath, the heart is being 
over-worked and we need to be careful. If the heart 
is greatly over-strained, especially when we are young, 
it stretches the muscles. The beating of the heart is 
not so strong after this, and may cause us serious 
trouble. 



THE HEART AND ITS WORK 


107 


Training the heart to its work. —There is little 
danger of over-working the heart, providing that we 
do not exercise too violently when we are not used to 
it. We should begin gradually in playing the harder 
games or running the races, and not exhaust ourselves 
too completely at first. The heart will soon become 
accustomed to its work and we shall have plenty of 
breath. 

Without a heart that is able to force the blood 
strongly through his arteries and veins, one can not be 
sturdy and well. A weak heart and poor circulation 
leaves us pale, with little strength and endurance. 

I knew a college student who had been ill and was 
unable to run more than a few rods without his heart 
beating violently and his breath becoming very short. 
He went to the doctor about it, and the doctor told 
him that what he must do was to train his heart 
gradually. So the doctor had him start by walking a 
block rather briskly, and end by running two rods. 
The next day the doctor told him, he could run a lit¬ 
tle farther, and the day after a little farther still, and 
so on, until finally his heart would be strong enough 
to stand severe exercise. 

How to train the heart. —My friend faithfully 
followed the- doctor’s directions, and within a year was 
able to compete with other runners on the track. He 
kept on developing his heart and lung power until 
finally he won in an important long distance race. 




io8 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


School boys and girls need to train their hearts. 
Because they sit still most of the day, they should get 
out in the open air all they can when not in school. 
They should race or play or work until the heart 
throbs and the blood courses through the body. They 
should develop heart and lung power until they can 
run a block or play a game without getting out of 
breath. 

Interesting things to do. — i. Show how to find 
and count the pulse beat in the wrist. The 
beat that you can count in the wrist comes 
from a large artery. 

2. Let each member of the class count his pulse 
when sitting in the school room. Now let each 
member of the class run one hundred feet at his 
best speed. Then immediately count the pulse 
to see how many beats the heart has increased 
from the running. The one whose heart beat 
has increased least has won in this te§t. 

3. In the same way let each member of the class 
count the number of times he naturally breathes 
in one minute while sitting in the school room. 
Then run the race as before and count the 
number of breaths in one minute immediately 
after running. The one whose breathing has 
increased least and who is least out of breath 
has won in this test, providing he has run as far 
and as fast as the others. 


CHAPTER XVI 


KEEPING THE BODY STRAIGHT 

The superintendent of a large business where many 
boys are employed, tells me that he always picks for 
the boy who can stand up straight on both feet. 

The first thing this superintendent notices is whether 
the boy who wants a job carries his head up, his 
shoulders erect and his entire body well poised. He 
says that a habit of lounging in standing or sitting 
shows a careless nature and inattention. He will not 
hire a boy who has a slouchy, shuffling walk. 

One of the first things a soldier is taught is to keep 
the body straight. The shoulders must be back and 
carried squarely and evenly. The chest must be high, 
and the head well up with the chin drawn in. We all 
admire the appearance of the soldier. Why should 
we not all learn to carry ourselves as straight as 
soldiers! 

The harm of bad postures. —Good posture is as 

necessary for our health as for our appearance. When 

one curls down in a chair or leans over a desk with his 

body bent he is cramping all the organs and crowding 

109 


i IO HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

them together. Of course this interferes with their 
work. 

First of all, a stooping, cramped posture crowds the 
lungs. They do not have room to expand, and can no 



The kind of “setting up” exercises that train the soldier to be so straight 

and trim 

more take in a full supply of air than a sponge can take 
in water if you keep it squeezed together. 

When the body is bent in a curve the stomach and 
the liver are cramped and unable to digest the food 
properly. No doubt many people who think their food 









KEEPING THE BODY STRAIGHT 


hi 



disagrees with them would find that the trouble came 
from dumping themselves down in a chair in a bad 
posture after eating. 

Good sitting postures. —The chair or desk in 
which we sit should fit the body. It should be so curved 


This outdoor drill will not only rest the boys and girls from their 
studies, but will teach them to hold their bodies straight and in good 

posture 

as to support the back. It should be of the right 
height, so that we do not have to sit forward or slide 
down in the seat to rest the feet on the floor. Then, 
having the right kind of a seat, we should train our¬ 
selves to sit properly. 

It is especially important that boys and girls should 
learn to sit well in school, for they sit so much of the 










112 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


time. And bad habits of posture formed at this time 
are very hard to break. 

When one is at work at a table or desk he should 
sit well forward. His body should be erect, chest 
well up, and head in good position. If it is necessary 
to lean forward toward the desk the body should be 
bent from the hips, and not curved in the back. 



Avoid such postures as these. They cramp all the organs of the body, 

and result in crooked backs 


Crooked backs. —About one out of every five of 
the boys and girls who study this book have backs or 
shoulders that are more or less crooked. This trouble 
is called curvature of the spine. 

Not all cases of curvature are bad enough that 
they are easily noticed. Some will have round shoul¬ 
ders. Some will have backbones that crook to one 
side. Others will have backs that curve in too much. 














KEEPING THE BODY STRAIGHT 113 

A part of this difficulty often comes from certain 
diseases of the bones we have as children. But much 
of it is caused by our own bad postures. 

Habits to avoid. —These are some of the bad 



The best way is to be careful not to make our backs crooked by bad 
postures. Watch your posture and see whether you are making your 
shoulders round or your spine crooked 


habits of posture that may give us crooked backs or 
shoulders: 

1. Standing slouchily, resting the weight on 
one foot. 

2. Sitting and working at a desk which is too 
high, and which causes one shoulder to be 
higher than the other. 





HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


114 


3. Sitting on one foot, with the body curved 
to one side. 

4. Carrying books or other articles under one 
arm. 

5. Bending forward as we work. 



How to stand. —A simple test for good standing 
posture is this. When one is standing correctly, his 

body is so bal¬ 
anced that he can 
rise up on his toes 
without having to 
sway the body in 
the least backward 
or forward in order 
to keep his bal¬ 
ance. An easy way 
to learn correct 
posture is to play 
at walking a fallen 
log; the arms extended sidewise will serve as a balance 
pole; the easy poise this gives may be made a habit. 

It is worth while for all of us to watch our postures 
and train our bodies to stand and sit erect. No one 
likes the swagger of the bully, but neither do we 
admire the slouch of the tramp. Erect, springy car¬ 
riage usually goes along with a feeling of self-respect. 
We compliment a person of decision and ability by 
saying he is “no slouch.” 


The wrong way to lie while sleeping. The pillow 
is too high, and the body bent 
















KEEPING THE BODY STRAIGHT 115 


Posture when we sleep. —Our sleeping posture is 
as important as our waking posture. The mattress 
should not be too soft, nor should the springs sag. We 
should train ourselves to lie with the body fully 
stretched out and not curled up. The pillows should 
be low, in order that the neck may not be bent and so 
interfere with the 
circulation of the 
blood in the great 
veins and arteries 
that pass to the 
head. Many per¬ 
sons p r e f 3 eV to 
sleep with no pil¬ 
low at all. We 
should sleep on 
the side rather 

than On the back The right way to lie while sleeping—pillow low. 
Or On the face. and body straight and relaxed 

Interesting things to do. —1. Show how to 
stand like a soldier on “inspection.” 

2. Show how to sit properly in a chair for reading. 

3. Show how to sit at your school desk when you 
have writing or studying to do. 

4. Draw chalk line on the floor to represent a fallen 
log; walk the log and keep your balance. 

5. Show how to test standing posture by rising up 
on the toes. 




































CHAPTER XVII 


THE SKIN AND ITS USES 

Did you ever meet with an accident and have a piece 
of skin scraped off? If so, you have discovered one of 
the most important uses of the skin. This is to protect 
the delicate and tender nerve endings, millions of 
which come to the surface of the body, to end in the 
numberless little organs of touch, temperature and 
pain, which are in the skin. 

Most wonderful of all of the uses of the skin, how¬ 
ever, is to serve as a regulator of the heat of the body. 
The janitor of a school building told me recently that 
the regulators attached to the heating system of the 
building were so perfect that the temperature of the 
school rooms did not vary more than a few degrees 
throughout the winter. 

This is truly wonderful, but the heat of the body 
is regulated more accurately than that. 

How the skin regulates the heat of the body.— 

You may go out into the heat of the summer sunshine 
and run or play or work until you are streaming with 
sweat and feel perfectly roasted. You may stand on 
a chilly day in the fall and watch a foot-ball game 

116 


THE SKIN AND ITS USES 


ii 7 


until you feel as if you were half frozen. You may 
go out skating on the ice when the temperature is 
twenty degrees below zero, or you may sit quietly in 
your school room with the room at a temperature of 
seventy degrees. In spite of all these differences of 
temperature, your body, if you are well, has not changed 
its inner temperature by more than the fraction of one 
degree. 

A remarkable experiment. —More than a century 
ago a number of scientists tried a most interesting 
and daring experiment. They fixed up a number of 
rooms so that they could heat them to any degree of 
temperature that they chose. 

Then they first tried going into rooms that were 
well above ioo degrees of temperature. This was too 
warm to be comfortable, of course, but they found 
that they were not injured. 

They kept on increasing the heat of their rooms 
until they were living and breathing in a room so hot 
that you would suppose they would die. But the air, 
being dry and quiet, did not injure them. 

Now we often put sore joints into a box and then 
heat the air in the box to the boiling point and over. 
But the joint is not injured; it is helped. Of course, 
the living tissue of the joint does not get as hot as the 
air around it. It would die if it did. It is protected 
by a layer of quiet air next to the skin, which the skin 
is able in a remarkable manner to keep cooled down. 



HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


118 


We learned in an earlier chapter, as you will remem¬ 
ber, that the body can not change its inner temperature 
more than a few degrees without the most serious 

consequences. 

This wonderful regu- 
^- Mouth of tube lation of temperature is 



or pore 

Epidermis 


-Dermis 


—Sweat aland 


This drawing shows a sectiofl of the skin, 
very much magnified, with a sweat gland 
and its tube leading to the surface. The 
sweat glands are so close together that 
the skin contains many millions of them 


brought about by the 
skin. To understand 
how the skin works, it 
will be necessary to 
know something of its 
structure. 

The structure of 
the skin. —The skin is 
about as thick as the 
leather in the upper of 
your shoe. It consists 
of two layers. There 
is first an outer, hard, 
tough layer called the 
epidermis , which is 
made of scaly cells 


which are not sensible 
to pain and which do not bleed when scraped or 
cut. These outer cells are constantly falling and 
rubbing off. They form in little rolls when you rub the 
skin after a bath. They also form the dandruff in your 
hair. Next there is an inner layer called the dermis , which 








THE SKIN AND ITS USES 


119 

contains many nerves and blood-vessels. When this layer 
of the skin is cut or torn it causes pain and bleeding. 

Opening outward on 
every portion of the 
skin are millions of 
little mouths or wells 
called pores. These 
lead by a tiny spiral 
tube down through the 
skin, where they end in 
a little knob or gland. 

These are the sweat 
glands and their open¬ 
ings. Now let us see 
how the sweat glands 
work. 

The pores and sweat glands. —When the body 
becomes heated by exercise or from being in too high 
a temperature, a watery fluid called perspiration is 
gathered by these glands and poured out through their 
numberless little tubes upon the surface of the skin. 
We then say that the person is sweating or perspiring. 
The perspiration immediately begins to evaporate from 
the skin. It is the evaporating of the perspiration that 
cools the body when it becomes too heated. 

The amount of sweat given out in a day by an adult 
may vary from one pint to at least a gallon, depending 
upon the temperature in which the person works. 



IP/NTj 

' 1 

( 

•gallon 




Hi 

u 



When the weather is not warm, or 
when the body is not heated up by 
exercise, the sweat glands may not 
send out more than a pint of moisture 
to be evaporated; but when the body 
is greatly heated they may supply 
enough to fill the gallon measure 











































120 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


When the body becomes cold the pores close and the- 
perspiration is checked. The heat of the body then 
rises. 

If anything happens to interfere with the regulation 
of the body’s heat, the temperature rises and we then 
have a fever. 

We must remember that these sweat glands are con¬ 
stantly at work, even when we do not know that we 
are perspiring. Because of this the skin is always 
somewhat moist. 

Evaporation cools the body. —It is the evapora¬ 
tion of this moisture on the skin that makes it easy to 
take cold if one sits down in a draft. For when moving 
air passes rapidly over the moist skin, the evaporation 
is very rapid, and the cooling is therefore quick. 

When the skin is suddenly cooled, the blood is 
driven away from the surface of the body. It there¬ 
upon is forced to some other part of the body, as the 
throat or nose, and congests the blood-vessels by over¬ 
crowding. This is not the whole story, for there often 
are germs in our nose waiting for just such an oppor¬ 
tunity as this to inflame the nose. 

It is this congestion of the blood-vessels which gives 
us the feeling of stuffiness in our nose and throat when 
a cold begins. 

To prevent colds one should therefore keep the body 
from cooling too rapidly, especially if the skin is moist 



THE SKIN AND ITS USES 


121 


from excessive perspiration. This means that we 
should avoid sitting in drafts when we are heated. 

Driving away a cold. —If we feel a cold coming on, 
the remedy is to draw the blood away from the place 
where it is becoming congested. To do this we should 
rest in a room where the air is fresh. We may then 
take a hot bath, soak the feet in hot water, drink 
hot liquids, like lemonade, and cover up warmly in bed. 

Questions to answer. —i. Why does the doctor 
put his thermometer under your tongue to see 
how sick you are? How many degrees should 
the thermometer show if you are well? About 
what is your temperature if you have a slight 
fever? If you have a high fever? 

2. Suppose after you have been out playing until 
you are very warm you come into the house 
and find a cool breeze blowing in through an 
open window. Should you sit down in the 
breeze to cool off? Why? 

3. What are the signs by which you can tell a cold 
coming on? Does your throat get sore? Does 
your head feel stopped up? Do you get hoarse? 
Do your lungs feel tight? Does your head ache? 
Tell what you can do, when a cold threatens, 
in order to drive it away. 

4. Georgia has a sore throat and is coughing badly, 
but wants to go to school. What do you advise 
about it? 




CHAPTER XVIII 


KEEPING CLEAN 

One of the first and I suppose best reasons for keeping 
clean is that it is more or less of a disgrace to be dirty. 

Of course one may get his hands much soiled and 
his body covered with dust and dirt in his play or his 
work. But nobody minds fresh dirt which is washed 
off as soon as possible. It is the dirt that is left on that 
is repulsive. 

If we have dirty hands and face, unwashed and un¬ 
combed hair, a body that needs a bath but does not 
get it, these are telltale signs to every one about us that 
we lack something of neatness and good breeding. 

Keeping the pores open. —But there is another 
important reason why the skin should be kept clean. 
This is to keep the pores open. We learned in the last 
chapter how the glands of the skin regulate the heat 
of the body by the sweat they pour out on the surface 
of the skin. The sweat is chiefly water, but it also 
contains a certain amount of solid waste matter from 
the tissues. 

An average of perhaps two or three teaspoonfuls of 
this waste is thrown out through the pores each day. 

122 



KEEPING CLEAN 


123 


The solid matter unites with an oily substance that 
comes from small glands at the roots of the hairs which 
cover most of the body. This mixture sticks to the 
skin, and clogs up the 
mouths of the pores. 

When the pores are 
clogged the sending out 
of perspiration is inter¬ 
fered with and the proper 
regulation of the body’s 
heat is impossible. The 
waste matter and oil soon 
grow stale on the skin if 
they are not removed and 
come to have an un¬ 
pleasant odor. And who 
wants to offend others by 
the odors from his body! 

Good bathing hab¬ 
its. —The body should be 
thoroughly washed with 
warm water and soap 
about , twice a week. 

Many persons take a 

bath every day. This is a good habit to form, though 
it is not necessary that hot water baths shall be taken 
so frequently. 

For those who are well and vigorous a good rule is 



Every really clean boy and girl de¬ 
sires to start each day with a good 
wash for hands and face, and to take 
a bath often enough to keep the skin 
fresh and clean 
























124 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


to take a cold sponge or shower every morning, and a 
hot bath once or twice a week. Since hot baths cause 
us to relax and get sleepy, they should be taken at night 
when we are ready for bed. The cold bath awakens 
and invigorates, so it should be taken in the morning. 

Some people do not like cold baths. They shiver 
and shrink at the very idea. Now no one should take 
a cold bath if it leaves him cold and chilly afterward. 
There must be a reaction and glow over the skin if 
the cold bath is to have a good effect. 

Learning to enjoy cold baths. —But one who 

shrinks from cold water can usually train the skin by 
starting with moderately cool water, and then going 
on from day to day with water a few degrees colder. 
It is well to start with a temperature of about 80 
degrees. The training may go on until the shock is 
not too great with water at 50 degrees. 

A good way to take a cold bath at first is to stand in 
a tub of warm water up nearly to the knees. Then 

sponge the body with water as cold as can be endured 

* 

without too mudi chilling. As soon as the sponging 
is finished step out of the tub and rub the body with a 
coarse towel until a glow is produced and the body 
feels warm. After a few days of this practise, a strong, 
healthy person may shower or pour the cold water over 
the body instead of using the sponge. The cold bath 
should always be taken in a warm room, and should 
occupy only a few minutes. 



KEEPING CLEAN 


IAS 


Training the skin against taking colds. —If we 

get our skin trained to cold water bathing, it will do 
much to insure against taking cold. The wearing of 
loose porous clothing which allows a free air bath of 
the skin as we go about our work or play will also do 
much to toughen the skin against colds. 

The skin of the face and hands may get rough, chap, 
and even crack open from exposure to cold winds. 
The hands will also chap from getting them wet in the 
snow. To prevent chapping, the skin may be rubbed 
before going out with glycerine, vaseline or with rose 
water. Chapping may be cured by bathing the skin 
in soft, warm water, drying carefully, and then rubbing 
with any good oil or face cream. 

The important points to remember about the 
skin. —After the perspiration has evaporated 
the waste matter and oil from the hair roots re¬ 
main on the skin. These clog the pores and give 
off a bad odor, which tells everybody that we 
need a bath. 

When the skin is not kept clean it can no longer 
regulate the heat of the body. We are then liable 
to colds and other dangers to our health. The only 
way to keep the skin clean is by frequent bathing. 

The skin can be trained to enjoy a cold bath or the 
contact of cool air. Training of the skin in this 
way is one of the best safe-guards against tak¬ 
ing cold. 


126 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Very rapid cooling of the skin when we are perspiring 
is always dangerous, and we should never run the 
risk of drafts when we are heated. 

Good habits to form. —i. The habit of taking a 
cold shower or sponge every morning as a pro¬ 
tection against colds and as a matter of clean¬ 
liness. 

2. The habit of taking a warm bath with plenty of 
soap and rubbing just before going to bed at 
least once a week; twice is better. If the warm 
bath is taken during the day it should be 
followed with a dash of cold water. 

3. Wearing the very lightest clothing in the morn¬ 
ing while brushing the teeth, combing the hair or 
performing other tasks about our room. This 
will train the skin to changes of temperature. 

Health Problems 

1. Make a list of the health “friend-habits” you have formed. 

2. The day was warm and Harold had played hard and grown 
rather sweaty. He was tired and sleepy when he prepared 
for bed, so he dumped his clothes in a pile on the floor. In 
the morning they were damp and did not smell fresh. Can 
you give the rules Harold should follow about his clothes 
when he prepares for bed? 

3. Do you follow the rules you have given for the care of the 
clothes when you prepare for bed? 


CHAPTER XIX 

CLOTHING AND ITS CARE 

Long ago, in the time before there were civilized 
nations or great cities, people wore very little clothing. 
In warm countries there were to be found many tribes 
who wore almost no clothes at all. And even yet there 
are to be found primitive peoples whose customs permit 
them to go about with the body but partly covered. 

With us clothing has become a very important 
matter. Everybody likes to be neat and well-dressed. 
The person who goes with ragged or dirty clothes is 
very unfortunate and to be pitied. 

Materials for our clothing. —Four great materials 
go into the making of the fabric for our clothing: 
cotton from the fields of the sunny South and other 
warm countries; wool from the backs of the sheep; 
linen from the fiber of the flax; and silk spun by the 
silk worm. The producing of these materials and 
making them up into clothing is one of our greatest 
industries. 

Making our clothing look well. —There are cer¬ 
tain rules which must be followed if our clothes are to 
look well. 


127 



128 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


1. Our clothes must be planned for the use we de¬ 
sire of them. When our work is rough and heavy 
our clothes must be of heavy, strong material, 
and be plainly made. Our school clothes should 
be of strong, durable material which is easily 
made clean. Our best clothes may be of finer 
material, and more attractively made. 

2. In order to be attractive, our clothes must fit 
us. They must not be too large nor too small, 
nor look as if they had been planned for some 
one else. 

3. No clothing, no matter how fine, looks well if 
it is not properly cared for. Clothes should be 
kept neat and clean with no rips nor places 
that need patching, and with no missing buttons. 

Four things required of clothing. —Besides mak¬ 
ing our clothing attractive, there are four other things 
to have in mind in planning our dress. These are: 

1. Proper ventilation of the skin. 

2. Reasonable warmth. 

3. Cleanliness. 

4. Freedom from pressure or binding. 

We learned in an earlier lesson the important part 
the skin plays in regulating the heat of the body and 
helping the body get rid of waste material. Our 
clothes should be of such fabrics as will allow the air 
to come freely to the skin, and at the same time 
keep it warm. 


CLOTHING AND ITS CARE 


129 


The right kind of cloth.- -Cloth that is loose and 
porous will allow the air to pass through much more 
readily than cloth that is hard and close woven. Under¬ 
wear should therefore always be of a porous kind of 
cloth. The outer clothing also is better when it is made 
of cloth having a loose weave rather than a hard, 
glazed material. Even the linings of coats and vests 
should be of porous cloth. 

It is necessary when we are out in a heavy rain to 
wear a rubber coat if we would keep dry. But one soon 
feels the discomfort from a rubber coat, even on a cool 
day. The skin can not get a supply of fresh air through 
the rubber, and the entire body suffers from its lack. 

The warmth of clothing. —The amount of cloth¬ 
ing we wear should be regulated by the coldness of the 
weather and the amount of exercise we are taking. 
While one should wear clothing enough to be com¬ 
fortable, it is always a mistake to wear thicker cloth¬ 
ing than we need. This is because heavy clothing does 
not allow the ventilation of the body as easily as 
thinner clothing. 

Woolens protect against the cold better than any 
other fabric since woolen cloth has many air spaces 
among its fibers. And these air spaces are poor con¬ 
ductors of heat, and therefore do not allow the body 
to cool off readily. Clothing of light color is some¬ 
what cooler in summer and warmer in winter than dark 
clothing. 




130 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 



Woolen and cotton clothing. —Some prefer under¬ 
wear of wool, some of cotton, some linen, others silk, 
while still others mixtures of two or three ol these 
fabrics. It really makes little difference which we 

choose after we get 
used to one. The 
important thing is 
that our underwear 
be very porous, 
since it is not so 
much the material 
as the layer of air 
it encloses which 
keeps us warm. For 
that reason a coarse 
webbing like a fish¬ 
erman’s net is very 
satisfactory. 

For sick persons 
woolen underwear 
is, on the whole, the 
best. It will keep 
dry longest, and when moist chills the skin less. 
The great objection to wool is that we all prefer 
thin underwear, since our houses are warm and we 
don our overcoats when we go outdoors, but a thin 
woolen garment is expensive and easily ruined in 
the laundry. 


Woolen outside garments make the best 
protection against the winter’s cold 









CLOTHING AND ITS CARE 


I 3 1 

Keeping our clothing clean. —Our clothing should 
be kept clean, first of all, because nobody likes to see 
one in dirty garments. One’s under-garments quickly 
become soiled from the perspiration and waste matter 
of the skin, and should be changed at least twice a 
week. 

The outer garments should, as far as possible, be 
of goods that can be washed. If it is necessary to wear 
a fabric that can not be washed, it should be thoroughly 
sponged or dry cleaned often enough that it may also 
be fresh and free from dirt. 

No piece of clothing on any part of the body should 
be tight enough to bind. This is because an important 
part of the circulation of the blood is carried on imme¬ 
diately beneath the skin. 

Why our clothes should not be tight. —Tight 
belts, neckwear, garters, or other clothing, hinder this 
circulation, and also may interfere somewhat with the 
flow of blood in the deeper veins. Especially should 
one not wear tight bands around the neck to interfere 
with the flow of blood from the brain. Hats which bind 
tightly on the head also interfere with the circulation 
of blood in the scalp, and this may prove an injury 
to the hair. 

Tight shoes which interfere with the circulation of 
blood in the feet not only produce corns, but tend to 
keep one’s feet cold in cold weather. They also pre¬ 
vent the proper development of the feet, and weaken 




i 3 2 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


them. Low shoes and sandals are better than high 
shoes, since they allow the air to come more freely to 
the feet. 

Habits worth forming about our clothing.— 

1. Having a reasonable pride in our clothes, so that 
we shall always desire to be neat, clean and 
attractive. 

2. Using care not to soil or wear out our clothes 
more than is necessary. 

3. Keeping our clothes well brushed, spots sponged 
off, and worn places repaired. 

4. Keeping our clothes carefully hung up or laid 
away when we are not wearing them, so that 
they will not get soiled and wrinkled. 

Health Problems 

1. Look your clothing over to see whether there are spots 
that ought to be removed. 

2. Give directions (ask your mother) for removing grease spots; 
fruit stains; ink stains. 

3. Discover how many different kinds of materials (wool, 
cotton, etc.) are represented in the clothing you are now 
wearing. Tell how each is grown or produced. 

4. Do you think it is a good plan for one to begin in the fall 
to bundle the throat up with wraps? 

5. What “clothing habits” ought children to form? Make a 
list of ten such habits. 


CHAPTER XX 


WHEN WE PLAY 

After work then play! All the really fine, promising 
boys and girls I know like to play. I think all of them 
like to work, too. At least it is much more fun to 
play when one has done his work, so that he has earned 
the right to play. 

Years ago most people thought that time spent in 
play was wasted. In the New England Primer, which 
was used as a reading book w T hen your great grand¬ 
parents went to school, children are urged to “mind 
little play.” After their work was done I suppose 
they were expected to sit solemn and “be good”! 

Now we know that just as every one ought to work, 
so ought every one to play. For play quickens the heart 
beat, makes us breathe deep and strong, and helps in 
many ways to health and growth. 

Why we play. —While play is good for the health, 
one does not want of course to think about his health 
while playing. We play best and get the most good out 
of it when we play for the fun of playing. We play 
to develop skill and become expert in games. And we 
also play to win in the game when we can win fairly. 

133 



134 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


It is worth while to know how to play. One never 
likes to have to say, “I don’t know how to play that 
game,” or “I can not play that well.” We should not 
be satisfied to know how to play just a few games, 
but should learn as many as possible of the plays and 
games suitable to our age. 



Indian Club Race 

Three clubs are stood upright in a small circle. The runner starts 
from a point thirty feet away, runs and moves one of the clubs to 
an adjoining circle, and returns to the starting point; she makes one 
trip for each of the three clubs. The one who can move all three 
clubs in the shortest time has won the game 


Rules we must learn. —There are certain rules 
which coaches and trainers of athletes always insist 
upon, and which every one should follow. 

I. Break in to hard playing gradually so as not 
to over-tax the strength. 






WHEN WE PLAY 


135 

2. Play only in air that is pure and free from 
dust. 

3. Do not play hard just before or just after 
eating. 

4. Take a bath after finishing a game. 

5. Always be fair and square in a game, never 

cheating nor taking unfair advantage of an 
opponent. * 

When the foot-ball team starts work in the fall or 
the runners begin to train for the track meet, the 
coach requires that they break in gradually. They 
do not try full speed at first, for this would keep 
them from reaching their full strength. 

When one plays he breathes very much more air 
into the lungs than when he is still. It is therefore 
important that the air he breathes should be free from 
dust and impurities. We should play out-of-doors on 
the grass or clean play-ground whenever possible. 

Good air where we play. —We can hardly do a 
worse thing than to play in a room where the air is 
bad or where dust rises from the floor as we play. 
Not only will playing in this kind of place keep us from 
getting any advantage from the playing, but it may 
very seriously endanger our health. When we are 
forced to play inside, as in a gymnasium or play-room, 
we should see that the floor is very clean and free from 
dust and that the windows are wide open, so that 

plenty of fresh air may enter. 

10 


* 


136 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


I know a boy who is fine in his play and games. He 
can outrun and out jump most other boys of his age. 
But for several nights past when he has come in to 
supper from play he has not been hungry. When his 
mother asked him about his appetite, he said, "Oh, I 
guess I played too hard, that is all.” 



Getting fresh air and sunshine while at play 


Playing hard just before meals. —It is possible 
to play too hard just before meals and to become so 
excited and wrought up that we lose our appetite 
because of the strain of the play. If the play is hard 
and tiring, one should quit his play at least half an hour 
before meal-time. He should then sit down or lie 






WHEN WE PLAY 


*37 

down and rest before eating. If he does not do this, 
he will find that he is not quite so good in his plays 
after a time. His growth will not go on quite as fast 
as it should, and he will not be as strong as he would 
like to be. A good athlete must be a good eater. 

Nor should one play too soon after eating. When 
one has eaten a full meal the blood flows to the stomach 
to enable it to carry on its digestion of the food. Now 
if one goes immediately to play as soon as he has 
finished his meal, the muscles and skin call for the 
blood. The stomach is robbed of its proper supply. 
It is plain that the digestion of our food can not go on 
so well under these conditions. 

Playing after eating. —There is another reason 
why we should not play exciting games too soon after 
eating. Some experiments recently performed upon 
cats show that if the cat is excited or irritated soon 
after eating, the food does not digest as it should. 
Excitement hinders digestion. We should give both 
body and mind a brief rest after eating. 

After athletes have been in a game, they always 
come in and immediately take a bath. We should do 
exactly the same way, for the activity of play increases 
our perspiration and the amount of waste matter 
brought to the surface of the skin. 

The bath following the game. —Usually the body 
gathers more or less dust in the course of playing, and 
this mixes with the sweat and waste of the skin. This 



HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


138 

greasy dirt coating must be washed off in order to 
give the skin the chance to do its work properly. 

Another good reason for bathing after playing is 
that everybody wants to feel that he is clean and neat 
all the time. He can not feel this way unless he has 
cleaned up after his play. 

Interesting things to do. —1. Have a contest in 
the class to see who can write down the longest 
list of the names of plays and games. 

2. Write down the names of all the games and plays 
you know how to play. Which are suitable for 
indoor and which for outdoor playing? 

3. Lay off a running track of 100 feet along one 
side of the play-ground.. Then have races and 
time the different runners with a watch that 
has a second hand. 

4. Plan contests of broad jumping, high jumping, 
chinning the bar, etc. Dig up with a spade 
a soft place to light on in the jumping. In 
jumping matches, athletes never light on hard 
ground, as the jar injures them. 

Health Problems 

1. Margery complained that the girls did not want her to play 
with them. The girls said that Margery never would play 
what the rest wanted, but always insisted on playing what 
she liked best. What would you advise Margery to do 
about it? 

2. Report on Health Crusader habits. 



CHAPTER XXI 


SLEEP, REST AND DREAMS 

If there is a baby at your house, you have probably 
noticed that about every time you go to look at it, it 
is asleep. For the first year of its life the baby should 
sleep about sixteen hours out of every twenty-four. 

By the time you were two years old you had slept 
a year and a half. When you were ten years old you 
had slept about six years. When you are twenty you 
will have slept ten years. Taking our life-time through, 
we average sleeping fully one-third of the time. 

The importance of sleep. —Sleep is so important 
that no one can live beyond four or five days without 
sleeping. Soldiers who are kept many hours without 
sleep, as in a battle, often get so sleepy that they will 
fall asleep with the shells bursting around them. 

It is said that when in olden times cruel jailers wished 
to torment prisoners, they would do this by keeping 
them awake for several days at a time. This is one of 
the most cruel punishments that could be invented. 

If you want to grow rapidly and be well and strong, 
you must make sure of plenty of good unbroken sleep. 
Children from ten to twelve years of age should have 

139 



140 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


at least ten hours of sleep, and some may require as 
much as eleven. 

Regular habits about sleeping. —One should 

have a regular time to go to bed, and not go early one 
night and late the next. One reason for this is that we 
can train ourselves to become sleepy at a certain time 
and then go to sleep much more quickly when we go to 
bed than if we do not have any certain time for retiring. 

Our bed-time should be reasonably early, so that we 
may arise early in the morning. If we get up late we 
usually have to hurry with our breakfast in order to 
get away to school in time. 

Good sleep and good nature go together. —Have 

you ever noticed that some mornings you get up 
happy and cheerful, and everything seems pleasant? 
Another morning you may awaken cross and tired, 
and everything you touch goes wrong. Your good 
mornings always follow a good night of sleep, and your 
bad mornings a night when your sleep was not restful, 
or when you did not have enough. 

It has been found by careful experiments that one 
sleeps much more soundly the first one or two hours 
after he gets to sleep than he does later in the night. 
And yet this first sleep would seem to be no more 
restful than sleep in the later part of the sleep period. 

We often dream when we are asleep, and no doubt 
you have often wondered at the queer things that 
come into your dreams. 




SLEEP, REST AND DREAMS 141 

Dreams. —We will understand dreams better if we 

1 

remember that they are nothing but sleep thinking. 
When we are asleep there is nothing to control the 
current of our thoughts as there is when we are awake, 
so they run off in many strange directions and play 
us queer tricks. Most of our dreams do not matter, 
but sometimes we have dreams that frighten us and 
disturb our sleep. 

Bad dreams are sometimes caused by indigestion 
coming from heavy suppers, or from eating indigestible 
things just before going to bed. It is thought that 
“nightmares” may also be caused by lying in cramped 
positions when we are asleep, and in this way inter¬ 
fering with certain blood-vessels. 

Whenever possible, we should sleep alone, and not 
with some other person in the bed. If two must sleep 
in the same room, each should have his own bed. 

Fresh air while we sleep. —It is fully as important 
that we should have plenty of fresh air when we are 
asleep as when we are awake. We sleep more soundly 
and rest better in fresh air. We should have the win¬ 
dows of our sleeping rooms open all night, either in 
the summer-time or in the winter. When it is very 
cold we should put extra covering on the bed, but not 
shut out the air. 

Many people who keep their windows open in the 
summer, close them tight in the winter. They seem 
to think that because the air is so cold it is certainly 



142 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


pure. We are to remember that air becomes impure 
when it is cold in the winter just as when it is hot in 
the summer. 

Sleeping out-of-doors. —The very best way of 
all is to sleep out-of-doors on a sleeping porch, where 
the air can freely enter and pass over our beds all 
night. We are told that tuberculosis was practically 



Rest after play 

unknown in the world until people began to live in 
tightly closed houses. Wise physicians who treat 
patients for tuberculosis have them sleep out-of-doors 
in this way. And surely if this is good for sick persons, 
it is equally good for those who are well. 

It has been noticed that pneumonia is worse in 
February and March than at any other time of the 
year. 

This is not because these months are really worse 
than any other months. It is because they come at 
the end of the winter, when many people who have 











SLEEP, REST AND DREAMS 


143 


slept in tightly closed bedrooms all winter fall easy 
prey to the pneumonia germs after their strength has 
been lowered by sleeping in impure air. 

Good sleep habits to form. —1. Going to bed 
regularly and getting up regularly, making sure 
of plenty of sleep. 

2. Going to sleep promptly as soon as we get to 
bed, not stopping to talk with any one who 
may sleep with us. 

3. Getting up as soon as we waken or are called, 
and not waiting to drowse after we have had 
sleep enough. 

4. Lying in a comfortable, straight position on the 
side. 

5. Sleeping out-of-doors if possible; if not, with 
open windows every night in the year. 

Health Problems 

1. Do you ever have bad dreams, or nightmares? Do you 
have trouble to get to sleep? If so, can you discover the 
cause: Do you eat food for supper or before going to bed 
which does not agree with you? Do you read exciting, 
blood-curdling stories in the evening? Do you play hard 
up to time to go to bed? 

2 . Josephine objects to going to bed at the proper time in the 
evening and then is sleepy and tired when it is time to get 
up. What would you advise? 


CHAPTER XXII 


THE TEETH 

Whenever one laughs or smiles or talks he displays 
his teeth to every one who may be looking at him. 
No part of the face is more attractive than a set of 
clean, regular, white and shiny teeth. 

But, on the other hand, nothing is much more 
ugly than teeth that are stained and slimy with de¬ 
cayed food, or that are crooked, deformed, or decayed 
in the mouth. 

When we get our teeth. —The baby at first has 
no teeth, but by the time it is a year old four teeth 
have appeared in front in the upper jaw and four in 
the lower jaw. So, on the baby’s first birthday he 
should have eight teeth. 

During the second year three more come immedi¬ 
ately back of these first ones on each side of the jaw. 
This adds six teeth for each jaw, or twelve in all during 
the second year. These, with the eight that grew in 
the first year, make twenty teeth that the child should 
have when it is two years old. 

These twenty teeth are called milk teeth, since they 

appear while the child is so young that its food is still 

144 



THE TEETH 


nctsors 


145 

chiefly of milk. The twenty milk teeth are all lost 
between the age of seven and ten years. They become 
loose and are pushed out by the new second, or per¬ 
manent, teeth which are growing in to take their place. 

The first permanent teeth. —At the age of about 
six years the first of the permanent teeth appear. 
These are known as 
the sixth year molars. k ° /drs 

One sixth year molar 
comes in on each side 
of the jaw just back 
of the last milk tooth. 

There are four sixth 
year molars in all, two 
in each jaw. 

If you will look in A drawing of the teeth of the right half of 
the mirror you can ‘J* 6 j£ T: ".“'“‘T* 1 fr °T 1-5 “! 

J the milk teeth; they become loose and 

easily see these first are pushed out by permanent teeth which 

molars. Start with the come to take their P lace - Those num - 

r 1,1*1 bered 6 are the first permanent teeth to 

first tooth to the right appear 

or the left side of the 

middle, and count around to the sixth tooth. This is 
the first of your permanent teeth, and is the sixth 
year molar. This tooth is numbered 6 in the picture. 

Let us stop now and count up how many teeth one 
should have at the age of eleven years. First of all 
there are the twenty permanent teeth which have 
taken the place of the twenty milk teeth at different 







146 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


times between the ages of seven and ten years. Then 
there are the four sixth year molars, the very first of 
one's permanent teeth. This makes twenty-four. 

A complete set of teeth. —Every boy and girl at 
the age of eleven ought, therefore, to have twenty-four 
straight, sound, white teeth. Four additional molars 
will come in during the next year or two (number 7 
in the picture), making twenty-eight altogether. And 
finally, probably sometime between the age of seven¬ 
teen and twenty years, four more molars, called 
wisdom teeth , appear. This makes the complete set 
of thirty-two teeth. 

Yesterday as I was going down town on the car I 
sat beside a pretty schoolgirl friend, who told me she 
was on her way to the dentist. She is very much con¬ 
cerned because her teeth are so crooked that they 
altogether spoil the appearance of her mouth. She 
is having the dentist try to straighten them for her. 

Why some teeth come in crooked. —This girl 
told me the way her teeth happened to grow crooked. 
When her second teeth were coming in, the milk teeth 
did not become loose and come out properly. She 
neglected to have the dentist look after them, and some 
of the second teeth grew out of the side of the gum 
instead of coming in where the first tooth had been. 
The dentist can help her even now, but it would have 
been much better had she gone to him when her per¬ 
manent teeth were coming in. 



THE TEETH 


147 


Not only do crooked teeth look unsightly, but they 
do not fit together right when we chew. In this way 
they make it impossible to cut and grind the food 
properly. This results in food being swallowed without 
good mastication, and the stomach has much harder 
work to digest it. 

Protecting teeth from decay. —The greatest 
enemy of our teeth is decay. School physicians tell us 
that at least nine school children out of every ten have 
one or more teeth with cavities in them caused by 
decay. When we remember that the teeth we have 
at eleven or twelve years must last us all through our 
lives, we see how important it is that we shall keep 
them sound. 

Injury from decayed teeth. —Decayed teeth are 
certain to attack the health of the entire body. There 
are four different ways in which decayed teeth injure 
us. 

1. They make it impossible to chew the food 
properly. Food which is not well chewed not 
only goes to the stomach in chunks that are 
too large, but it fails to be properly mixed with 
the saliva in the mouth. 

2. The cavity of a decayed tooth discharges poisons 
into the mouth. These are swallowed and taken 
up by the blood and carried all over the 
body. 




148 HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

3. Besides these poisons, decaying teeth cause 
toothache. Sound teeth never ache. 

4. Every cavity in a tooth is filled with a mixture 
of decayed food and microbes. More than 
100 different kinds of microbes have been found 
in the mouth. Many of these are the germs of 
serious diseases like tuberculosis and diphtheria. 
We will see in the next lesson how to keep our 
teeth from decaying. 

Interesting tilings to do. — T - Learn from the 
drawing on page 145 the four different names 
that apply to your teeth. 

2. Point to each tooth in the right or left half of 
either jaw and as you point to it give it its 
name. 

3. After learning the age at which the different 
teeth usually come in, point again to each of 
your different teeth and tell the age at which 
this tooth usually appears. 

4. Report whether you have ever had the tooth¬ 
ache, whether you have been to the dentist, 
and how many, if any, teeth you have had filled. 

5. Examine your teeth carefully after cleaning 
them to see whether you can find any cavities. 
Use a toothpick to explore around the teeth. 

6. Play you are a dentist: First scrub your hands 
very clean, then examine the teeth of a classmate 
and give directions for caring for the teeth. 



■ i 

i 


CHAPTER XXIII 

HOW TO HAVE GOOD TEETH 

A doctor who had examined the mouths of a large 
number of school children kept a record of the troubles 
he found with their teeth. He says: 

“The average school child has twenty-four teeth; 
eight of them are diseased; sixteen of them are dis¬ 
colored with unsightly accumulation of foods and 
deposits, or else he has some noticeable malformation 
interfering with mastication. Three of the four sixth 
year molars are seriously affected, or else one is already 
lost and another decayed. He has had toothache more 
or less during the past year. He has never put a tooth¬ 
brush to his teeth and has never seen the inside of a 
dentist’s office.” 

Learning to care for our teeth. —This description, 
severe as it is, is true of about one-half of the children 
in the schools. Most of this trouble can be saved by 
keeping our teeth strong by eating coarse food and by 
forming right habits of caring for them when we are 
young. 

The cause of most of our tooth troubles is decay. 

Decay, as we have already learned, is caused by 

149 



ISO 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


microbes. If we keep our mouths free from microbes, 
then our teeth will be safe from decay. 

Microbes are attracted to our mouths by the par¬ 
ticles of food that remain sticking to our teeth. Clean 
mouths mean fewer microbes. If we clean our teeth 



I wish mine had 


My mother taught me to use 
a tooth-brush 


thoroughly two or three times a day, we will get rid 
of most of the microbes that cause our teeth to decay. 
There is no other way to have good teeth. 

The tooth-brush habit. —The first thing to do if 
we would have clean teeth is to get a tooth-brush. The 
next thing to do is to use the tooth-brush faithfully! 
For not everybody who owns a tooth-brush uses it 
regularly. 








HOW TO HAVE GOOD TEETH 151 

Our tooth-brush should have bristles stiff enough 
so they will push well into the angles of the teeth. 
The bristles should not be so stiff, however, as to hurt 
the gums. The bristles should not be set too close 
together, for this will keep them from going in between 
the teeth. 

Besides a good tooth-brush, we need a tooth paste 
or powder. This is to help dissolve and cut the slime 
from the teeth. The paste or powder should be used 
each morning, and may be used also in the evening. 
It is well also to brush the teeth with clear water after 
the noon meal, but they should always be brushed at 
least morning and evening. If our teeth are cleaned 
thoroughly this often, the microbes will not have a 
chance to stay long enough in our mouths to cause 
decay. 

How to use a tooth-brush. —Not everybody 
knows how to use a tooth-brush. I watched my 
nephew brush his teeth this morning, and he just 
rubbed the brush back and forth over them. This 
did not get the bristles into the corners between the 
teeth. Besides brushing back and forth, he needs to 
give the brush a twisting movement, or else work the 
brush downward for the upper teeth and upward for 
the lower teeth. In this way the bristles get into every 
crack and corner. 

Teeth nearly always begin to decay at their inner 

edge where they touch each other. This is because 
11 



152 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 



A tooth-brush with tufts of bristles of 
slightly different lengths is better than 
one with bristles all the same length; 
this is because the longer bristles can 
then reach in between the teeth better 


\ 


should be used each 
night when we are get¬ 
ting ready for bed. 

No matter how well 
we care for our teeth, 
we should call on the 


the food particles are 
not removed from be¬ 
tween the teeth, and 
when the food begins 
to decay it also starts 
the tooth to decay. 

Cleaning between 
the teeth. —To over¬ 
come this difficulty, one 
must clean between the 
teeth. This can be done 
by drawing a piece of 
thread between all the 
teeth that are far 
enough apart for the 
thread to go between 
them. A special silk 
thread called silk floss 
is made for this use. It 


dentist at least twice a year and let him look them 
over. It is possible that some little place has started 
to decay and needs immediate attention. If the den- 










HOW TO HAVE GOOD TEETH 


T 53 


tist discovers the decaying place in time, it will cause 
no pain to fix it, and the tooth may be made almost as 
good as ever. 

Going to see the dentist. —When a tooth has 
decayed so much that it begins to ache, it can then 
never be made as good again as if it had been looked 
after in time. An aching tooth means that the cavity 
has got down near to a nerve, and that there will be 
some pain in cleaning the hole out and filling it. But 
every brave boy and girl will be willing to stand a little 
pain in order to have their teeth made good. 

Danger of breaking the teeth. — I saw a boy 

doing a very foolish thing the other day. He was 
cracking hazel-nuts with his teeth. He probably did 
not know that the outer part of the tooth, which is 
called the enamel , is very hard and brittle. Because 
it is so hard the enamel is easily cracked or chipped 
by biting upon' hard substances. 

When the enamel has been broken or chipped in any 
way, the tooth will decay very much more easily and 
quickly. It is like the apple or potato with the skin 
broken through—the microbes find a good place for 
lodgment and immediately begin their work. 

Good habits to form. —i. Having as much pride 
in clean, attractive teeth as we have in good 
clothes, or clean hands and face. This means 
that we should be ashamed of dirty, discolored 
teeth, or of teeth that have cavities in them. 



154 HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

2. Being so faithful in the use of our tooth-brush 
each night and morning that we would no 
more think of going without brushing our teeth 
than we would of going without our breakfast 
or supper. 

3. Making a visit to the dentist at a certain time 
each year. This might be on our birthday 
and half way in between. 

Interesting things to do. —1. Show how to brush 
the teeth with a back and forth, up and down 
and twisting motion so as to get the brush into 
every crevice between the teeth. 

2. Show how to pass a silk thread in between the 
teeth to remove all particles of food. 

3. Show how to apply tooth paste or powder to 
the brush without waste. 

Health Problems 

1. Many persons who own a tooth-brush do not use it regu¬ 
larly. How many times have you brushed your teeth in 
the last week? 

2. Unless a tooth-brush is well washed out after it has been 
used, it becomes very dirty and not fit to put into one’s 
mouth. Tell how you clean your brush. 

3. When did you have toothache last? What caused it? When 
did you last go to the dentist? When should you go again? 


CHAPTER XXIV 


CARE OF THE HAIR 

Hair grows on nearly all parts of the body. It is 
longest and thickest, however, on the head, where it 
serves for protection and adds much to one’s appear¬ 
ance. 

Hair, bulb, gland. —Each separate hair grows from 
its own tiny bulb or root which is imbedded in the 
skin. Pull a hair from your head and draw it through 
between your finger and thumb. Do you feel the small 
bulb at the end? Every hair also has its own little oil 
gland and sometimes two of them, which open directly 
against the root of the hair. This oiling system sup¬ 
plies all the oil the hair needs and will keep it soft 
and glossy if the skin from which the hair grows is 
properly cared for. 

Our hair shows the kind of care it gets. —The 

other day I sat beside a boy in the street-car who would 
have had a fine head of hair, except that something 
was the matter with it. His coat collar was covered 
with little whitish flakes of dandruff and loose hairs 
that had fallen off of his head. 

i5S 




HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


156 


When this boy raised his cap to his teacher, who 
came into the car, I noticed that his scalp looked 
rough and scaly where his hair was parted. He also 
scratched and rubbed his head now and then as if it 


was itching or felt un¬ 
comfortable. 



Now I think I know 
what was the matter 
with this boy’s head. 
I think he did not 
take good care of his 
hair. Perhaps he had 
not formed the habit 
of brushing it and 
washing it as often as 
he should. 


What dandruff is. 

—Did you ever think 
what dandruff really is? 
Secure a few pieces of 
dandruff from your 
hair. Examine them 


A hair, with its bulb or root, and an oil 

gland 


carefully through the magnifying-glass if you have 
one. If not, your eyes will do. You will find that 
the little dandruff flakes are nothing but particles of 
the epidermis that scale off from the scalp. 

We have already learned that the epidermis is con¬ 
stantly wearing off. Particles of it loosen and scale 


















CARE OF THE HAIR 


iS 7 


off on all parts of the body. You can sometimes notice 
the whitish particles in your stockings if you have worn 
them several days. When the flakes scale off on the 
scalp they lodge in the hair. They are just like the 
flakes that scale off on other parts of the body. 

Removing dandruff. —It is perfectly natural that 
everybody should have some dandruff gather in his 
hair. The trouble is that some have too much. If the 
head is kept clean and healthy by frequent washing, 
and the hair is brushed well every day, one will have no 
trouble with dandruff. It will be removed as fast as 
it forms, and will not be noticeable. The oil from the 
glands at the roots of the hair gradually works out to 
the surface of the scalp. This oily substance is some¬ 
what sticky and mixed with the dandruff forms into a 
kind of pasty coating. When this dries it sticks to the 
scalp and finally peals off in scales. 

When this sticky mass clings to the scalp, it irritates 
the skin and makes it feel dry and itchy. This condi¬ 
tion is bad for the roots of the hair and causes it to 
loosen and fall out. Failure to take care of one’s 
hair is a frequent cause of baldness. 

Washing the hair. —In order to keep the scalp and 
hair clean the head should be washed about once a 
week; twice a week is better if we play or work in the 
dust or dirt. A mild soap should be used with plenty 
of warm, soft water. It is safer not to use the pre¬ 
pared shampoo mixtures, for the doctors tell us that 



158 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


many of them are bad for the scalp. After the washing 
is finished, the soap should be thoroughly rinsed out of 
the hair. The hair should then be dried carefully be¬ 
fore we expose ourselves to draft or the cold. 

In order to keep the hair in good condition it should 
be thoroughly brushed every day. Brushing starts the 
oil to flowing from the roots of the hair, and gives the 
hair a glossy, healthy appearance. It is well to massage 
the scalp with the finger-tips or even to pinch it lightly 
over the entire surface once or twice a day if we find 
the hair becoming dry. This will not only cause the 
oil to come out upon the hair, but will bring more 
blood to the surface and cause the hair to grow better. 

Insects that get into the hair. —Those who do 
not live in very clean homes or who fail to keep their 
heads clean are sometimes troubled with small head 
lice. The worst of it is that these lice can travel about 
enough to get into the hair of perfectly clean people. 
They may also be caught from wearing the hats or 
caps of those who have lice on their heads. It is 
unsafe even to hang one’s hat or wraps near those of 
a person who has lice. 

Clean, well-combed, healthy looking hair is one of 
the greatest attractions we can have. On the other 

r 

hand, hair that is greasy, dirty, or which has a bad 
smell is never attractive, to say the least. One’s per¬ 
sonal habits and cleanliness are constantly judged by 
the appearance of his hair. 



CARE OF THE HAIR 


159 


Bad habits to avoid about the hair. —1. Some 
boys allow their hair to become rough, tousled, 
and unruly from lack of proper brushing. This 
shows them to be careless about their person 
and not to have very good taste. 

2. Girls sometimes let their hair become greasy, 
stringy and snarly because they do not take 
time to wash it. No one whose hair is in this 
condition is very attractive. 

3. Some persons form the habit of scratching the 
head. If the head itches, the scalp either needs 
better care and attention, or else head lice are 
troubling. In either case, the difficulty should 
be remedied and we should not attract un¬ 
favorable attention to ourselves. 

4. Putting oil on the hair. Nature supplies enough 
oil from the roots of the hairs if we take good 
care of the hair. Oil put on the hair only 
makes it gummy and sticky. 

Hair habits that will make one ready for “in¬ 
spection.” —1. Washing the hair thoroughly 
with soap and warm water twice a week. It is 
well to have certain days for this in order that it 
may not be forgotten. 

2. Having one’s own comb and brush and then 
neither borrowing nor lending. Especially ought 
one not to use combs and brushes found in 
hotels, railwa}^ wash-rooms or other public places. 


160 HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

3. Brushing the hair vigorously each night and 
morning and massaging the scalp once each day. 

4. For boys to form the habit of keeping their hair 
clipped often enough 90 that it does not grow 
to look ragged and too long. For girls to have 
their hair always neatly fastened in some attrac¬ 
tive way. 

Health Problems 

1. When Mary got home from school last night she told her 
mother she didn’t like to sit next to Henry in class, because 
he was always scratching his head and it made her ‘‘creepy.” 
What different causes might lead Henry to make himself 
unpleasant by scratching his head? 

2. Dick wets his hair every time he combs it to make it “lie 
down” better. His mother tells him that wetting his hair 
so much only makes it more stiff and unruly, and that what 
he ought to do is to wash his head thoroughly twice a week 
and then brush his hair instead of wetting it. Do you 
think she is right about it? 

3. Can you by looking around the school-room, pick out the 
girls and boys who take good care of their hair, and the 
ones who neglect their hair? 

4. Make a list of six good “hair habits.” How many of these 
habits have you formed? 


CHAPTER XXV 


KEEPING THE NAILS IN ORDER 

Our finger-nails have three chief uses. They pro¬ 
tect the ends of the fingers; they aid in picking up and 
holding small objects; and they add to the appearance 
of the fingers. 

The nails, like the hair, are a part of the epidermis, 
or scarf skin, and therefore do not hurt nor bleed when 
we cut them. They grow from the root end, and no 
matter how they may be torn, bruised or injured, they 
will grow out again if the root has not suffered injury. 

Certain fashionable people in India and China allow 
their finger-nails to grow out very long, sometimes as 
much as several inches. The nails are then kept care¬ 
fully trimmed, polished, and even painted. Of course 
such long nails are in the way and their owner can not 
work, for the nails would be broken off. In fact a 
metal cap like a thimble is often worn over these long 
nails to keep them from breaking. We would think 
that such nails looked too much like claws and would 
not want them. 

How to trim the nails. —Good taste and conve¬ 
nience both require that our nails shall be kept care- 

161 



HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


162 


fully trimmed. They should be left just long enough 
to project the least bit beyond the tip of the finger. 
Some trim their nails to a pointed shape, but this 
makes them more liable to break. The best way is to 
trim the nails in a curve to match the oval tips of the 
finger. 

Sometimes the skin clings at the root of the nail 

as it grows out. This 
stretches the skin until 
it breaks, and frag¬ 
ments of it peel back. 
The breaking and peel¬ 
ing of the skin causes 
what we call hang¬ 
nails. Hang-nails not 

The one nail shows a rough and jagged 0nl y become Very SOre, 
edge where it has been broken or nibbled; but also injure the 

the other shows careful care and trim- looks of the fingers 
ming. Which would you rather have? 




Curing hang-nails. 

—Hang-nails will not form if the skin is not allowed 
to grow fast at the root of the nails. This can be 
prevented by pushing with the thumb against the 
skin at the back of the nail whenever the hands are 
washed. A soft wooden instrument may be used to 
push the skin back. The nails should never be 
scraped or scratched with any hard instrument, 
for this will only cause them to grow thick and 
unshapely. 









KEEPING THE NAILS IN ORDER 163 

One of the chief points in caring for the nails is to 
keep the dirt cleared from under their tips. The 
cleaning should never be done with a knife, scissors or 
any sharp instrument which may scratch and make 
the nail rough underneath. For this only makes a 
lodging place for the dirt and causes it to stick all 
the more readily. 

Cleaning the nails. —The best instrument for 
cleaning under the finger-nails is a soft bit of wood 
sharpened just enough to go under the nails readily. 
Small wooden nail cleaners are sold in the shops for 
about one cent each, but one can easily make such 
an instrument for one’s self. 

If one’s hands have become very much soiled, or 
the dirt has become caked under the nails or around 
their edges, it may be necessary to use a stiff brush 
in order to clean them well. 

But whatever method we use, we should at least 
keep our nails clean. A black line under our nails is 
sure to tell tales on us, and let everybody know that 
we have not formed good habits of caring for our 
hands. 

The dirt that lodges under the finger-nails also con¬ 
tains many different kinds of microbes. Some of these 
may bring us disease if they get into our mouths or 
on our food as we eat. 

Accidents to the nails. —A young friend who 
lives neighbor to me recently made a mistake and 




164 


HYGIENE AND HEALTEI 


struck his finger-nail in place of the nail he was driving 
into a board. Joe’s finger-nail turned black and gave 
him a great deal of pain. He said it throbbed so 
that he could feel his heart beat in it. 

The dark appearance of the nail was caused by the 
blood which flowed out from the small vessels which 
had been broken underneath the nail by the blow of 
the hammer. The throbbing was caused by the blood 
which was driven by his heart-beat against the torn 
and bruised nerves. 

Joe’s finger hurt him so that his mother took him 
to the doctor. The doctor bored a little hole through 
the nail and let the blood out. This relieved the pain. 
The doctor told Joe that if the blood was not let out 
it would harden underneath the nail and interfere with 
the growth of the new nail which Joe will have in 
place of the old one. 

Caring for the toe-nails. —Toe-nails need as much 
care as finger-nails in order to keep them in good 
condition. Every time a bath is taken, the toe-nails 
should be cleaned under the tips and around the edges, 
and care should be given to see that they are not be¬ 
coming too long. 

Instead of cutting toe-nails in a circular form as is 
the case with finger-nails, they should be trimmed 
nearly square across. This is to keep them from 
growing under at the edges and causing ingrowing 
toe-nails. 



KEEPING THE NAILS IN ORDER 165 

Instruments for use on the nails.— The best 
way to trim nails is with a small pair of scissors or with 
a nail file. The file will do a better job than the 
scissors. A knife is not a proper instrument for trim- 

^ ming the nails, as we 
can not trim them with 
it in so true a shape, 
and there is always 
some danger of cutting 
where we do not intend 
to with the knife blade. 







Habits to avoid in 
caring for the 
nails. —1. .Biting 
or nibbling the 
nails. This bad 
habit is not only 
disgusting to 
others, but it is 
also unsafe to take 
into one’s mouth 
the microbes that 
lodge in the dirt 

under the nail tips. 

2. Trimming the nails by pulling the tips off with 
the fingers. This leaves them rough and jagged 
and finally spoils their shape. 

3. Scraping or filing the back of the nail. This 


These three instruments, scissors, file, 
and a soft piece of wood sharpened to a 
dull point, cost but a few cents, and each 
member of the family should have his 
own set 
























166 HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

always causes the nail to grow thick and heavy 
and leaves the surface uneven. 

4. Allowing dark lines of dirt to gather under the 
tips or around the edges of the nails. 

Desirable nail habits to form. —1. Keeping the 
nails so carefully filed or trimmed that they are 
always ready for “inspection.” 

2. Using a soft wooden instrument each time we 
wash our hands to clean underneath and around 
the edges of the nails. 

3. Pushing the skin back at the roots of the nails 
in the morning so that the little white crescent 
at the back will show clearly. 

4. Taking as good care of our toe-nails as of our 
finger-nails. 

Interesting things to do. —1. Show how to 
shape a piece of soft pine to make an instrument 
for cleaning under the nails. 

2. Show how to push the skin back on the crescent 
of the nail to prevent hang-nails. 

3. Show how to trim the finger-nails properly with 
small scissors. 

4. Show how to trim the nails with a nail file. 

5. Show how to trim the toe-nails to prevent in¬ 
growing nails. 


CHAPTER XXVI 


HOW TO HAVE GOOD EYES 

Which do you think would be the most dreadful 
loss to one, to lose his sight, his hearing, his taste, or 
his smell? 

I asked this question the other day of a group of 
boys and girls. They were to write down the answer 
on a piece of paper. When the slips of paper were 
collected, they all had the word ‘‘sight” written on 
them. I think the boys and girls were right about it. 
I can not imagine anything more dreadful than to be 
without sight. While the eye is well protected by 
being set back in a bony pocket, yet it is a very deli¬ 
cate organ and is easily injured. The eye may be 
injured by accidents, by diseases, or by improper use. 

Guarding the eyes against accident. —John 

Lothrop Motley, the writer of histories, was made 
blind by a comrade throwing a bread-crust which 
struck him in one eye. The other eye became dis¬ 
eased by the inflammation and also lost its sight. 

Two boys whom I know were playing together and 
one chased the other under the low hanging limbs of 
a tree. The one who was ahead caught a small branch 

,2 167 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


168 



with his hand and then let go of it. When the branch 
flew back a small twig struck the other boy in the 
eye and cut through the outer coating. This let out 
the liquid that fills the front of the eye, and made the 
eye blind. It had to be removed by the doctor, and 

my friend to-day wears 
a glass eye in place of 
his own. 

Many accidents hap¬ 
pen every year on the 
Fourth of July from 
the explosion of fire¬ 
crackers, toy pistols 
and the like, which 
cause the loss of eye¬ 
sight. One can not be 
too careful in guarding 

The wrong way to sit when reading. The pjg eyes against aC- 
light should not strike the eye, but fall . , . , 

from behind or from the side on the page Cldent - nOT Can he be 

too careful not to in¬ 
jure the eyes of another person. 


From Visual Education Number 


Danger of overworking the eyes. —The eye is one 

of the hardest worked organs of the body. Our eyes 
were originally intended for out-of-door vision rather 
than for reading books. It is only a few hundred years 
since men have begun to read books in any numbers. 
In five minutes of reading on this page your eye makes 
about one thousand separate movements and focuses 







HOW TO HAVE GOOD EYES 169 

as many times with rifle aim precision upon the letters 
that you read. 

Five minutes of such reading probably requires as 
much work of the eye as the energy expended in a 
whole day of distant seeing out-of-doors. 

Rules for caring for the eyes. —If our eyes are to 

stand this hard work, we must give them the best of 
care. Some simple rules which we all need to follow 
are these: 

1. We should not read while facing the light. 
Direct light tires the eye and weakens it. The 
best reading light comes from the side or over 
the shoulder, so that it falls on the page without 
any shadows. Good lighting from overhead may 
also be had. We should never sit facing a 
window nor reading lamp. Nor should we have 
strong electric lamps in our rooms without 
shades covering them. 

2. We should not read in light that is too dim, for 
this strains the eyes unnecessarily. The light 
is too dim whenever we find it hard to see the 
print. We are sometimes careless when reading in 
the twilight as the light grows faint, and continue 
until it is far darker than is good for the eyes. 

3. We should not read from blackboards that are 
shiny, so that they reflect the light into our eyes. 
Nor should we read from the blackboard when we 
are so far away that it is hard to read the letters. 



i;o HYGIENE AND HEALTH 

4. The books we use should not have a very fine 
print. Trying to focus upon objects that are 
too small gives the eye extra work and strain. 

5. It is easy to form the habit of reading with the 
page too near the eyes. We should notice the 
distance at which we can read best, and then be 
careful to keep our book at about that distance. 
For a book like the one you are reading you 
ought to read the print at about sixteen inches 
from the eyes, if your eyes are in good condition. 

Reading on a train or in a street-car is hard on the 
eyes. This is because the jolting of the train causes 
the eye constantly to change its focus to keep track of 
the moving words. The muscles of the eye are soon 
tired, and may be seriously injured. 

It pays to be good to our eyes. —We may think 

that our eyes are so strong that none of these things 
will hurt them. But we can never be sure, and we ought 
not to injure our eyes even if they are good. If we 
weaken our eyes we are sure to have to pay for it some 
day by being obliged to wear glasses, or being unable 
to see well. The doctors tell us that about one boy 
and girl out of four in the schools of the United States 
has serious eye trouble. Each of us ought to save our 
eyes in every way possible. 

Diseases of the eye. —A disease called “pink-eye” 
is very frequently found in our schools. In pink-eye 



HOW TO HAVE GOOD EYES 



the eyes smart and are sensitive to the light, and the 
eyelids stick together at night. There is also usually 
some discharge out of the corners of the eye. The eyes 
look inflamed and red. 



Pink-eye is commonly carried by means of towels, 
borrowed handker¬ 
chiefs, or by using 
wash-basins which 
others with bad eyes 
have used. 

A still worse disease 
is that called trachoma. 

In this disease the eyes 
become inflamed, the 
lids swell and the sur¬ 
face of the eyeball 
becomes rough. The 

inner surfaces OI the light does not strike the eye, but falls on 
eyelids are covered the book 

with small granules, and are very painful. 

This disease is not so common as pink-eye, but it is 
much worse when one has it and may sometimes 
cause blindness. Trachoma is very contagious and 
can be contracted from the towels, basins, or hand¬ 
kerchiefs used by those who have the disease. 

We should form the habit of keeping our hands 
away from our eyes, and especially never rubbing 
them when they smart or itch. We should not use 


from visual Education Number 












172 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


any article of clothing that has been used by one who 
has sore eyes. We should not wash in the same basin 
with any one who has eye trouble. 

Good habits in protecting our eyes. —1. Al¬ 
ways sitting in such a position when reading 
that the light will come from overhead, the side, 
or behind us. It should never shine in the eyes. 

2. Sitting up straight when we read instead of 
bending the head forward over our work. When 
we hang the head forward extra strain is put 
on the eyes. 

3. Stopping reading when the eyes begin to smart 
or feel tired, or when we notice the light too dim 
to see easily. 

4. Going to the doctor if our eyes become red, sore, 
or inflamed, or if they discharge and the lids 
stick together. 

Bad habits about the eyes which we should 
avoid. —1. Rubbing the eyes with our fingers 
or with soiled handerchiefs, or towels which 
other people have used. 

2. Looking at very bright lights or at the sun. 

3. Reading while in bed or lying down so that the 
book is not held in a good position. 

Interesting things to do. —1. Notice carefully 
whether the letters on this page look blurred. 
Whether they dance about. Whether they run 




HOW TO HAVE GOOD EYES 


173 


together. If they do any of these things, you 
should have your eyes examined by the doctor. 

2. Place your book flat against the wall in a good 
light. Then go exactly fifteen feet back and see 
. whether you can easily read every one of the 
first line of letters at that distance. If not you 
should have your eyes examined. Do the same 
for the second line at ten feet. 

RTVZB DF H 

(15 feet) 

VZYACEGIiNFRT 

(10 feet) 

Health Problems 

1. Are your eyes good: Can you read the print of this book 
easily at a distance of about sixteen inches from the eye? 
Do your eyes begin to smart after you have read for some 
time? Does your head ache from reading? 

2. A boy who had eyes which looked inflamed and which were 
running somewhat at the corners, kept rubbing his eyes 
with his fingers, which were rather dirty. What reasons 
can you give why one should not rub his eyes with his 
fingers? 


CHAPTER XXVII 


CARE OF THE EARS 

While some one is talking near by put your finger¬ 
tips into your ears and then try listening to the conver¬ 
sation. Does it not sound strange? Everything is 
blurred, and now and then there are words that you 
can not hear at all. You miss a great deal of what is 
said, and finally lose the meaning of the conversation. 

Would it not be dreadful to have your ears like that 
all the time? Yet there are many children who have 
some kind of ear trouble that makes it impossible for 
them to hear any better than you can with your ears 
stopped up. 

Many children have poor hearing. —Physicians 
who have carefully examined the ears of children in 
many schools tell us that nearly one-fifth of all the 
school children in the United States have some ear 
difficulty which makes them hard of hearing. 

In school one who is hard of hearing does not hear 
all the teacher says about the lesson. He may miss 
the assignment or some important explanation. He 
finds it hard to prepare his lesson and soon falls behind 

the class. Many such children are thought to be dull 

174 



CARE OF THE EARS 


H 5 


when the real trouble is not in the brain at all, but 
in the ears. 

The strange thing about poor hearing is that it may 
come upon us without our knowing it. Unless our 
hearing becomes very bad, it may grow dull without 
our realizing that other people hear better than we do. 

How to detect poor hearing. —If one seems to 

have trouble to hear what the teacher is saying in 
school, it is well to notice whether others round about 
seem to be hearing clearly. If so, it is possible that 
he has dullness of hearing that should receive attention 
from the doctor. 

Another way to test the hearing is by listening to 
the tick of a watch. Seat yourself in a chair and 
close your eyes. Have some one take a watch and hold 
it close enough to your ear until you- can clearly hear 
it tick. Then have him move the watch slowly away 
until it reaches the point where you can no longer 
hear it. Do this several times, and measure carefully 
to find out the greatest distance at which you hear 
the tick. 

Try this for both ears in the same way. Then have 
several others try it. If most of your classmates can 
hear the watch considerably farther away than you 
can, it means that your hearing has some difficulty 
that needs attention from the doctor. 

Earache and poor hearing. —Still another sign of 
troublesome ears is to have the earache. This does 




176 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


not mean that every one whose ears may sometimes 
ache has dullness of hearing. But the hearing is nearly 
always affected if one has earache very much. Some¬ 
times the ear runs pus, or matter, which has gathered 
inside. Running ears show disease that the doctor 
should remedy. They many times lead to deafness. 

Most of the ear troubles that children have can be 
cured by the doctor if taken to him in time. Any one 
who finds that his hearing is somewhat dull, or who 
has earache, or a discharge from the ear should there¬ 
fore go to the doctor. This may save deafness later 
in life, and it will surely make one able to learn faster 
and better while he is in school. 

How the ear is made. —The ear is a very remark¬ 
able part of the body. If you will have a friend stand 
with his ear turned toward a bright light, and then 
with your finger pull forward the projection just at 
the front of the ear, you can look down a small, round 
canal that leads straight into the head. The canal is 
nearly one inch long. At the end of this canal you 
will see a little membrane stretched across like the 
head of a drum. 

Just inside this membrane there is a little chamber 
or cavity across which hang in a row three tiny little 
bones that are tied the one to the other. These bones 
lead on in to a still smaller cavity hollowed out of the 
bone of the skull. It is in this small inner chamber 
that the hearing is really done. 



CARE OF THE EARS 


177 


From the cavity just back of the drum-head there is 
a small tube that leads to the back part of the mouth. 
Sometimes the germs of sore throat or tonsillitis succeed 
in getting up this tube into the ear. It is these germs 
that give us earache and cause the trouble which 



results in the discharge of pus from the ear. This is 
the reason why we often have earache along with bad 
colds or sore throat. 

How we hear. —If you throw a stone into a pond 
of water you see the waves ripple out from the spot 
where the stone dropped. When I clap my hands 









178 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


together I make waves in the air just like those in the 
water where the stone strikes it. These waves in the 
air beat on the drum-head at the end of the canal 
and make it vibrate back and forth. The little bones 
carry the sound waves across to the ear inside. 

A small friend of mine was playing on his drum 
recently and struck it so hard that he broke the mem¬ 
brane and ruined the drum. The drum of your ear is 
much more sensitive than the membrane on a drum¬ 
head. Sometimes a sudden blow on the ear will 
drive a rush of air against the ear-drum and cause it 
to break. This may injure the hearing in that ear. 

Keeping the ears from injury. —You may have 
seen people pick at their ears with matches, hair-pins, 
toothpicks, or other sharp things. This is always 
dangerous. For if we even touch the drum we are 
likely to injure it. And without this drum-head we 
are deaf. 

A very distinguished man whom I know has but 
one ear that hears. When he was a boy he was one 
day picking at his ear with his lead pencil, when 
some one passed him and jogged his elbow. This 
pushed the point of the pencil against the ear-drum 
and destroyed it. 

A kind of wax naturally forms in the little canal 
that leads in to the drum-head. Ordinarily this wax 
comes out of its own accord, but sometimes forms in 
lumps. When it gathers in this way it should not be 


CARE OF THE EARS 


179 


picked out. If we will drop into the ear a few drops 
of sweet oil or olive oil, this will loosen the wax so that 
it will come out without trouble. 

Points to remember about our hearing.— 

1. We may become hard of hearing without know¬ 
ing it. If we have trouble to hear what people 
are saying we should have our ears tested. The 
doctor can do this in a few minutes, and with 
no pain or trouble to you. 

2. Ear trouble and deafness often come from 
tonsillitis, adenoids, measles or scarlet fever. If 
our ears ache or run pus we are in danger of 
becoming deaf if they are not cured. 

3. Most ear troubles can be cured if taken to the 
doctor in time. A stitch in time saves nine! 

4. The ear should always be treated well. It 
should never be boxed nor pulled, nor should 
it ever be picked or the wax removed with any 
hard instrument. 

Health Problems 

1. Robert often misses hearing what the teacher says, although 
the rest of the class easily hear her. What two possible 
explanations are there of Robert’s failure to hear the teacher? 

2. Give rules for taking care of the ear. Do you follow these 
rules yourself? 

3. Are you a good Health Crusader? 


CHAPTER XXVIII 


BETTER NOT—TOBACCO 

The American Indians played one bad trick on the 
white people who drove them from their hunting 
grounds. The Indians taught their white neighbors 
to use tobacco. This was about the middle of the 
sixteenth century. The use of tobacco has spread until 
it is now known almost all over the world. 

Rabbits and cigarettes. —In order to test the ef¬ 
fects of cigarette smoke, a Russian scientist invented 
a piece of apparatus by which he could compel rabbits 
to breathe the smoke of cigarettes. In this way he 
had his rabbits smoke a number of cigarettes daily. 
Some of them died within a month, but others seemed 
to get used to the smoke, so that it did not appear to 
injure them. When these smoking rabbits were killed 
at the end of five months, however, it was found that 
their blood-vessels were diseased, and that their 
hearts did not act right. These effects were caused 
by certain poisons in the tobacco. So the cigarettes 
killed some and injured all. 

Another doctor took one of these tobacco poisons, 
nicotine, and, parting the fur of a healthy rabbit, 

i Bo 



BETTER NOT—TOBACCO 


181 

placed one large drop on the skin. The poison soaked 
through the skin into the blood and in a little time 
the rabbit sickened and died. He then tried putting 
two drops of nicotine on the tongue of a dog, and the 
same amount on the tongue of a cat. Both the dog 
and the cat died from the effects of the poison. 

All tobacco contains a harmful poison.—The 

reason that smoking or chewing tobacco does not kill 
men is because they do not get all of the poison in 
this way. Much of it goes off in the smoke of the cigar, 
cigarette, or pipe. When the tobacco is chewed much 
of the poison is spit from the mouth. 

Nevertheless the poisons from tobacco, whether it 
is chewed or smoked, do affect the heart and blood¬ 
vessels. Cigarette smoking is always found to increase 
the rate of the heart beat, thereby making it work 
harder than it otherwise would need to work. Careful 
experiments made upon soldiers showed that the 
smoking of a few cigarettes increased the pulse rate 
from six to nine beats a minute. 

The smoker is usually short of breath. He lacks 
endurance. This is the chief reason why athletic 
coaches will not allow the men on their teams to smoke 
While they are in training. One can not help but won¬ 
der whether if tobacco is bad for an athlete, it is not 
bad for everybody. 

Effects of smoking. —Dr. Bush in a series of tests 
upon fifteen different men found that immediately 




HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


182 

after smoking, these students showed a loss of more 
than ten per cent, in mental power. The loss was 
greatest when they smoked cigarettes. 

Probably there is no man who uses tobacco but 
would be better off without it. Certainly there is no 
boy who uses tobacco but who injures his heart, 
clouds his mind, and hurts his chances for success. 

The tobacco habit hurts one’s business chances. 

—Great business concerns have come to learn that 
boys who smoke are not so trustworthy and not so 
efficient as those who do not. Many of the largest and 
most successful banks, stores and factories will not 
now employ boys who smoke cigarettes. If one is 
sure to injure his health, decrease his brain power, 
and shut himself from the best business chances by 
the use of tobacco, it would seem good sense to let it 
alone. 

Tobacco using is not a very cleanly habit. Chewing 
tobacco is perhaps the worst, since it results in spitting 
in a filthy and disgusting way. Smoking is but little 
better, however, and one’s breath, teeth, and mouth 
always show the unpleasant effects of tobacco. 

The cost of tobacco. —Even the cost of tobacco is 
one important reason against its use. The person who 
smokes but one ten-cent cigar a day will spend $36.50 
a year for his tobacco. If he smokes three cigars a 
day, his tobacco bill will be more than $100.00 a year. 




BETTER NOT—TOBACCO 


183 

Surely there are many ways in which one could 
better spend his money than in burning it up in smoke 
which constantly harms him in place of doing him 
good. 

Facts worth remembering about tobacco.— 

1. Tobacco never helps a boy get or hold a job. It 
keeps many boys from securing the best jobs. 

2. The use of tobacco, especially cigarettes, never 
fails to interfere with our growth and strength. 
It always dulls the mind and checks our 
development. 

3. Money spent for tobacco is worse than wasted, 
for what we buy with it is sure in the end to do 
us harm. It never does us good. 

Health Problems 

• 

1. It has been found that boys who use tobacco do not do so 
well in athletics as boys who do not use it. Which do you 
think a good, live boy should choose, cigarettes or the 
strength and skill that make him a good athlete? 

2. By comparing the school grades of boys who use tobacco 
with boys who do not use it, it is shown that the tobacco 
users do not do as good work as the non-users. What would 
you say is the wise choice for a boy to make? 

3. How many reasons can you give why a boy should not use 
tobacco? How many reasons why he should? 


CHAPTER XXIX 


BETTER NOT—ALCOHOL 

Alcohol has recently been having a hard time of it. 
When the great war broke out in Europe in 1914, one 
of the first things each of the nations did was to forbid 
or limit the use of strong drink. 

Russia banished vodka. France forbade absinthe. 
England limited the amount of beer and other drinks 
that could be bought. The United States passed laws 
against the manufacture and sale of certain liquors, 
and finally added an amendment to the Constitution 
which forbids the manufacture‘and sale of all alcoholic 
drinks. 

Alcoholic drink always an enemy. —Action was 
taken against alcohol by the different nations because 
each one knew it must put forth its full strength in 
order to do its part in the war. Each nation knew that 
strong drink always injures and weakens the user. 

For centuries alcohol has deceived men and made 
them love to drink. The man who is intoxicated 
imagines that he is having a good time; he feels very 
strong, wise, and powerful. He does not know that 
he is really silly and stupid, and an object of pity. 

184 



BETTER NOT—ALCOHOL 185 

Scientists have recently carefully measured the 
strength, endurance, and mental power of men who 
have not had alcohol, and then measured the same 
men after they had been given whisky or beer or wine 
to drink. In every case it has been found that alcohol 
decreases one’s strength. It weakens his endurance. 
It confuses his mind so that he is less able to think. 

Growth and ability injured by alcohol. —Even 
cats, dogs, chickens and guinea pigs which have been 
given alcohol show the effects. They fail to grow full 
size. They are dull mentally and can not learn. They 
do not live as long as they otherwise would. In fact, 
they are poor specimens of animals, just as men who 
become drinkers are poor specimens of men. 

So sure is alcohol to steal away one’s brain and lower 
his strength that railroads, factories, business houses, 
and other employers now quite generally refuse to hire 
men who drink. 

Alcohol never helps in the end. —It used to be 
thought that wine and beer contained certain foods 
that were good for people, especially for the weak or 
the sick. It is now known that those who use alcohol 
are much more likely to take disease and die than those 
who have never used it. Many people think that a 
drink of whisky will enable one to stand severe cold. 
It has been clearly shown, however, that men who drink 
alcohol in any form are unable to stand exposure to 
either cold or heat as well as those who do not use it. 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


186 

Alcohol is always an enemy and never a friend. 
Its use easily grows into a habit that men find impos¬ 
sible to break. It makes those who use it cruel and 
dishonest. It causes many crimes. It fills our jails 
and prisons. 

When saloons were in existence in this country, 
more money was spent on alcohol in the United States 
in a year than is expended for the running of our 
public schools. Yet it shortens the lives of those who 
use it, robs them of their strength and manhood, ruins 
their careers, and causes much sorrow and distress 
to others. 

No form of strong drink is safe. —There is no 
form of alcoholic drink that is wise or safe. A drink 
of beer is not so bad as a drink of whisky, only be¬ 
cause it contains less alcohol. But more beer is drunk 
than whisky, so perhaps it really does more harm in 
the end. Wines are also less strong than whisky. 
But there is no drink that contains alcohol which is 
not foolish and harmful. 

Interesting things to do in studying about 
alcohol. — I. Find out whether the law against 
the use of alcohol is well obeyed in your city. 
In your state. 

; 2. Each member of the class might ask some suc¬ 
cessful banker, doctor, lawyer, or other business 
man what he thinks about the use of alcohol. 
Ask these men whether they would want to 
employ any one who drinks. 



CHAPTER XXX 


WHEN ACCIDENTS HAPPEN 

Probably not many of the boys and girls who study 
this book have had really bad accidents, or have been 
hurt severely. 

But suppose each of you stop now and make a list 
of all of the cuts, bruises, sprains, punctures of the 
skin, burns, or other kinds of small hurts you can 
remember having had in the past year. Very likely 
you find it quite a list, and one never knows when a 
still more serious accident or hurt may come. 

What to do. —There are two things necessary if 
we are to do the right thing when we have an accident. 
First, we must know what to do. Second, we must 
keep a cool head. 

Almost any small wound will heal readily if we make 
certain of two things about it: 

1. Wounds must be cleaned of any splinters, bits 
of gravel, dirt or any other such substance 
that may have got in. 

2. Bacteria must be kept out of wounds, or pus 
will form and the wound be slower in healing. 

187 



i88 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 




Medicines that cleanse 
wounds. —Whenever a wound 
runs pus we may know that 
the bacteria have got in and 
are at work. In order to clean 
wounds from bacteria, the surgeons 

wash them with 
what they call an 
antiseptic . This may 
be iodine , hydrogen 
peroxide , or any 
other one of several 
medicines. 

One of the most 
common forms of 

wounds is cuts. If the cut is severe, 
there is usually a good deal of bleed¬ 
ing. If the blood spurts from the 
wound strongly, it means that an artery 
is cut, while if it flows steadily a vein 
is cut. Arteries carry the blood from 
the heart; veins carry blood back to 
the heart. If the flow is strong we 
should call the doctor to stop the 
bleeding and dress the wound. 


This shows where the 
large artery of the neck 
and arm runs 


Cut 


Stopping bleeding 
from a cut by 
tying handkerchief 
loosely around the 
arm and then twist¬ 
ing it tight with a 
stick 


How to stop bleeding.—But we 

shall need to do something immediately 
to stop the bleeding before the doctor 







WHEN ACCIDENTS HAPPEN 



comes. Unless the cut is very deep and the bleeding 
rapid, it can usually be stopped by pressing the fingers 
tightly over the cut. If this does not check the 
flow of blood, a handkerchief should be tied just 



Pressure with the thumbs over 
the large artery of the leg will 
check bleeding while a bandage 
is being prepared. The pressure 
must be above the cut 



To stop severe bleeding from 
the large artery of the leg, a 
handkerchief should be tied 
loosely around the leg above the 
cut, a piece of stick placed over 
the artery, and the handkerchief 
then twisted tight 


above the cut and then twisted tight with a stick 
until the bleeding stops. 

The doctor will wash the cut out with an antiseptic, 
and then if the wound gaps open, pull the edges to¬ 
gether either with tape or with stitches. If the cut is 










190 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


not severe enough to call the doctor, 
we can cleanse the cut and apply the 
tape ourselves. 

Treating bruises# — Bruises are 
sometimes as serious as cuts and need 
to be treated as carefully. If the skin 
has been broken through, the bruised 
place should be carefully washed with 
an antiseptic and all of the dirt and 
foreign substances carefully removed. 
A piece of absorbent cotton wrung out 
of the antiseptic solution may then be 
laid over the bruised place and a 

bandage 




Adhesive plaster applied to cuts on the 
face. This treatment will aid in the 
healing and will help prevent scars 


The edges of a cut 
may be held to¬ 
gether by strips of 
adhesive tape 

put over the 
whole. Cold cloths are 
sometimes applied to 
bruised places in order 
to keep the soreness and 
swelling down. 

Punctured wounds. 
—Puncture wounds are 
often more dangerous 
than either cuts or 
bruises. We may step on 
a rusty nail and not feel 
the hurt greatly at the 
time. It is entirely cer¬ 
tain, however, that a 




WHEN ACCIDENTS HAPPEN 


191 

great number of bacteria are carried by the point of the 
nail into the skin. Since the punctured wound does not 
bleed much, the bacteria are not washed out by the 
blood as many of them are in a flowing cut wound. 
Blood poisoning, or even lock-jaw, often follows a 
wound from a dirty nail. 

If the skin has been punctured by a clean nail or a 
bright needle or pin, there is less danger. Any punc¬ 
tured wound should be squeezed immediately, however, 
to force the blood out if possible. Iodine or alcohol 
should be spread freely over the punctured place and 
even poked down into the hole with the point of a 
clean toothpick. 

Taking care of a sprain. —Sprains are often very 
troublesome hurts. Sprains are caused by the tearing 
or pulling loose of little bands called ligaments, which 
hold the bones together at the joints. If the sprain is 
severe, the smaller blood-vessels are broken and the 
blood gathers about the sprained part. This causes 
it to swell and also helps to increase the pain. 

The sprained part should immediately be plunged 
into cold water, which will help keep the swelling down 
and stop the pain. This may be changed after a time 
to very hot water, which will have the same effect. If 
the sprain is severe enough to cause much pain, the 
joint may require bandaging. In applying the bandage 
care must be taken to make it draw tightly over the 
softer portions around the joint, for these are the places 


192 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


around the joint, for these are the places where the 
blood will settle and the swelling be most severe. 

If the sprain is slight, it is best to exercise the sprained 
part lightly to keep it from getting stiff. If it is too 
severe it may be necessary to rest the joint for a num¬ 
ber of days. 

Burns.—When burns occur, the very first thing to 
do is to shut the air from the. burned part. This can 
be done by plunging the 
burned place into cold 
water. If, however, a 
large portion of the body 
has been burned, as from 
the clothing taking fire, 
then it is better to put 
the person, clothing and 
all into warm water, as 
in a bath-tub. 

If the burn is severe the doctor will, of course, be 
called and will tell what to do next. The burn should 
be kept from the air, however, until the doctor has 
arrived. This will save pain and will make it easier to 
treat the burn afterward. 

It is a mistake to put anything on burns that will 
stick to them and make pain and trouble in getting 
the substance off. 

j2 

If the skin is only red and not blistered or broken 
through, the burn may be covered with a clean cloth 





One way of bandaging for a sprain 


WHEN ACCIDENTS HAPPEN 


193 


that has been soaked in water in which ordinary 
cooking soda has been dissolved. This will serve to 
keep the air from the burned place, and will lessen 
the pain. If the skin is blistered or broken through, 
however, salad oil, castor oil, glycerine, vaseline or 
fresh lard without salt can be put on the burned place 
till the doctor comes. 

When the skin blisters from a burn, it should be 
dressed with oil, and then not disturbed for about twenty- 
four hours. At the end of this time the liquid must be 
let from the blister. This can best be done by snipping 
through the top of the blister with sharp scissors. 

Frost-bites. —If we frost the nose, ears, fingers, or 
any other part of the body, it immediately turns 
white because the blood has stopped flowing through. 
The great secret of caring for a frost-bitten part is to 
thaw it out gradually. A handful of snow or plunging 
the frozen part into a basin of cold water is far better 
than to thaw it out in warm water or in the heat of 
the fire. Thawing a frost-bitten part with warm water 
or fire heat not only causes intense pain, but makes 
the place more sore afterward. 

Chilblains are caused by poor circulation of the 
blood in the feet. This is usually brought about by 
cold feet, or by tight shoes worn in the winter-time. 
Going with wet feet also tends to cause chilblains. 
Chilblains cause the feet to become very sore and to 
itch badly. 


194 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


To cure chilblains it is necessary to keep the circu¬ 
lation of the feet good. This can be done by keeping 
the feet warm, wearing shoes that do not bind, and by 
rubbing the feet, especially at night. Healing oint¬ 
ments may also be rubbed on the sore places. 

Dog bites. —Everybody loves a good dog, and a 
healthy dog often makes a splendid playfellow. Occa¬ 
sionally a dog or cat bites some one; this always causes 
much anxiety because the bite of an animal may prove 
fatal if germs of the disease called rabies, or hydropho¬ 
bia, are present in the animal’s mouth at the time of the 
injury. Nothing applied to the wound will have any 
effect in preventing rabies but the wound should be 
dressed for comfort and cleanliness. 

If the dog was being teased it is quite probable that 
this caused his action rather than the disease called 
rabies; in this case he should be shut up where he can be 
watched; if he begins to act strangely or appears to be 
“running mad” he should be killed and the head sent to 
the State Board of Health Laboratory for examination. 

If the laboratory reports that the animal had rabies 
“Pasteur treatment” should be administered to the 
injured person at once. This will be sent upon request 
from the State Laboratory or from your nearest Branch 
Laboratory to be administered by your local physician or 
health officer. 


WHEN ACCIDENTS HAPPEN 


*95 


In this way the contraction of rabies or hydrophobia 
can nearly always be prevented, but it is well to avoid 
danger by keeping a safe distance from strange dogs 
and cats and especially from animals which act 
strangely. 

Interesting tilings to do. —1. Play that you 

have cut your wrist and that it is bleeding. Put 
an ink mark on the skin to represent the cut. Now 
show how to hold the cut shut with the fingers 
of your other hand so it will not bleed. 

2. Play one of the class has cut his arm badly just 
above the elbow. Show how to put a handker¬ 
chief around the arm and then twist it tight with 
a stick to stop the bleeding. 

3. Show how to bathe and bandage an ankle for 
a bad sprain. 

4. Show how to treat frost-bitten fingers, nose or 
ears. 

5. Find out where your nearest State Laboratory 
is located. Write your State Board of Health 
for additional information about rabies. 

6. Play that a burn has blistered the back of your 
hand. Show just what to do in caring for it. 

7. Make a Health Crusader report showing the 
good health habits you have formed while study¬ 
ing this book. 


CHAPTER XXXI 


GOOD HEALTH GAMES* 

This lesson is not to be learned and recited upon as 
are most lessons of the text. It is made up of interesting 
things to do from time to time as your teacher may 
direct. In it are some games, exercises and drills which 
you are sure to like. Their purpose is to rest you after 
you have been studying, to give you fun, and to help you 
to grow straight and strong. 

You should study the directions for each game or 
exercise until you are sure you understand just what 
movements are required. When the teacher gives the 
directions each one must listen carefully so that no mis¬ 
takes shall be made when the game begins. Much of 
the success and fun will depend on how quickly you 
think and understand, and how skilfully you carry out 
the directions. 

In some of these games, as for example the two im¬ 
mediately following, we imagine that we are somewhere 
else or that we are somebody else and then do the things 

*The games and exercises of this chapter are largely borrowed or 
adapted from the Michigan and the California State Manuals of Physi¬ 
cal Training. Write to State Board of Health or State Tuberculosis 
Association for additional material. 

196 



GOOD HEALTH GAMES 


197 

that are required of us. The teacher or the book tells 
us what to do, our imagination helping all the while. 

When the games are played indoors the windows 
should be open! 

Making Christmas toys. —1. Jack in the Box. At a 
signal from the teacher pupils all stand in correct po¬ 
sition, on both feet, body straight, arms at sides, head 



Outdoor fun and frolic go with good nature and health 


up, chin in. The teacher makes a downward motion 
with the hand as if closing a box; all quickly bend knees 
until almost sitting on heels. The teacher suddenly 
raises her hand and all spring up to a standing position. 





HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


198 

2. Jumping Jacks. At a signal from the teacher all 
stand (correct positions). The teacher makes a motion 
as if pulling a string. Pupils jump into the air with feet 
apart, bringing them together again as they land. The 
arms are to be brought up to a level with the shoulders 
and down again with each jump. 

Playing in the snow. —At a signal from the teacher 
pupils “get sleepy”— heads laid on arms resting on desks, 
body relaxed . (Keep this position for one full minute.) 
At second signal all “wake up”— sit straight, stretch 
arms, yawn. The teacher suggests a play in the snow to 
liven us up. At a signal all take correct standing posi¬ 
tion in aisle. At signal, “Boots,” pull on rubber boots, 
first right, then left. At, “Caps,” pull cap over ears 
(keep elbows out and back). It is so very cold that the 
teacher will give the signal, “Warm fingers.” Pupils 
fling arms across chest slapping opposite shoulders. At 
signal, “Snowball,” stoop low and pick up handful of 
snow. Make snowball while standing erect. Throw 
snowball at some object in the room. Repeat and throw 
with left arm. At signal, “Snow drifts,” zvalk (without 
leaving place) through deep drift with hands on hips, 
lifting feet and knees high with each step. At signal, 
“Run home,” go through motions of running (in place), 
taking long, deep breaths of pure air. The arms are to 
be raised straight from sides to shoulder height as breath 
is taken in, and lowered as it goes out. 


GOOD HEALTH GAMES 


199 


Group games such as those which follow are suitable 
for playing in the school room for rest exercises and 
fun. Each player must be careful not to injure property 
or be unnecessarily noisy and boisterous. 

Night before Christmas. —The players form in a 
circle and each is given the name of something con¬ 
nected with the story of Santa Claus, as sled, chimney, 
bells, mittens, fur coat, stockings, candy, etc. One 
player is chosen to be “it” and stands in the center while 
he tells a Christmas story in which he uses now and then 
the words given the players as names. Whenever he 
mentions the name of any of these things the one who 
has this name must turn completely around. If Santa 
Claus is mentioned, all must turn around. If the one 
who is “it” can tag any player before he has turned 
around, the one tagged must be “it” and go on with the 
story. The game may be made more difficult by having 
the players sit. 

Tag the wall relay. —Two or more complete rows of 
players are seated at their desks. At a signal from the 
teacher the players in the rear seats rise, run down the 
aisle, tag the wall and return to their seats. As soon as 
the first player is in his seat the one next ahead does 
the same, and so on until each player has had his turn. 
The line whose front player is seated first wins. The 

14 


200 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


game may be changed to tagging the blackboard by hav¬ 
ing each player write upon it some word agreed upon, 
passing the chalk to the next runner as he takes his seat. 

Ducks fly .—The players stand facing their leader. 
The leader may say, “Horses run ” himself at the same 
time starting to run in place. All must imitate the run¬ 
ning. But if the leader should say “Trees run ” then 
the players do not imitate the 
leader’s running. If a player 
makes a mistake and imitates 
the running when the wrong 
words are spoken, as, “Trees 
run,” then he must be “it” and 
carry on the game. Many oth¬ 
er exercises may be used, as 
jump, fly, swim, breathe, throw, 
catch, whirl, etc. Whenever a 
player fails to imitate when he 
should, or imitates when he 
should not the score is counted 
against him. 

Bean bag relay. — The 

players are seated, a bean bag 
on each front desk. At a signal Start for run in place with 
from the teacher each front knee upward 

player takes the bag and tosses it up and back over 



■ — 


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liH 
ky, V, 

„• V-/ 




GOOD HEALTH GAMES 


I 


201 


his head. The player behind him must clap his hands 
after bag is thrown and then catch it or pick it up and 
do the same with it. The rear player, on getting it, hops 
down the aisle to the front of the room and there ex¬ 
ecutes some movement previously agreed upon (as bend¬ 
ing to touch his toes with his fingers) ; while he is doing 
this all the other players move back one seat. When he 
has finished the movement the player from the rear 
takes the front seat and the play begins as at first. This 
continues until the player who was in the front seat 
reaches it again and puts the bag on the desk as in the 
beginning. The row accomplishing this first wins. 

Fetch and carry relay.— A circle eighteen inches in 
diameter is drawn in front of each row of seats close to 
the front wall. Each pupil is given a bean bag. At a 
signal each front pupil runs forward, places his bag in 
the circle, and resumes his seat. His being seated is the 
signal for the next to do the same, and so on till all the 
bags are in the circle. The first row to finish wins, 
providing every bag is in the circle. The play may now 
be reversed. At the signal the last player goes and gets 
his bean bag and after he is seated he touches the one in 
front of him as a signal to go. In this way all the bags 
are brought back to the seats, the row whose last player 
is seated first being the winner. 

School room basket ball. —A basket is placed in 
the front seat of the second row from each side of the 


202 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


room. Draw a throwing line on the floor twenty feet 
from each basket. Choose four captains and have these 
captains choose teams, choosing in turn. The teams are 
to stand behind their throwing lines, each team having a 
ball. Captains stand beyond the baskets, two captains 
at the same basket. Each captain passes the ball in turn 
to his player and they throw for the basket. The team 
throwing the most baskets in a round wins one point; 
the first to get five points wins the contest. 

In the exercises which follow the teacher will give the 
direction describing exactly what each one is to do. Im¬ 
mediately at the end of the description of the movement 
she will give the command, such as BEGIN! or ONE! 
or TWO!, etc. Each member of the class is to listen 
carefully so as to know what is to be done, and then at 
the command, act instantly. Be sure not to act ahead 
of the signal, nor, on the other hand, to be slow about 
obeying the command. 

For example, suppose the class are all standing in cor¬ 
rect position ready for a “warming up” exercise. The 
teacher will say: 

On right foot, BEGIN! (At word BEGIN! you are 
to stand on the right foot.) 

Hopping eight times on right foot, BEGIN! (At 
word BEGIN! you are to start hopping, in place; stop 
with the eighth hop.) 


GOOD HEALTH GAMES 


203 


Warming up exercise. —Hands on hips, PLACE. 
(Body erect, head up.) 

(1) Feet apart, JUMP! (Jump in air, landing with 
feet apart.) 



A good way to spend a vacation 

(2) Feet together, JUMP! (Back to position.) 

In rhythm, BEGIN! (Continue jumping, bringing 
feet apart and then together as teachei counts 
1, 2 until the command, POSITION!) 




















204 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Stretching exercise. —(Repeat three times.) Bend 
knees deeply, reaching finger tips to floor, ONE! 
(Be sure to wait for signal ONE, then act 
promptly.) 

Stretch knees and raise arms to vertical, TWO! 
(Arms stretched high above head.) 

Lower arms to side horizontal, palms up, THREE! 
(Arms extended outward to right and left on 
level with shoulder.) 

Position, FOUR! (Back to correct standing posi¬ 
tion.) 

The “swing” drill. —Left foot forward, PLACE. 
(Left heel eight to twelve inches ahead of right 
toe.) 

(1) Raise arms upward, forward with weight all 
thrown on forward foot, ONE! (Be sure to 
wait for the signal ONE.) 

(2) Return, TWO! (Throw weight to other foot, 
but keep the feet in place.) 

Also repeat in rhythm eight times, BEGIN! (The 
teacher counts 1, 2 for the changes.) 

POSITION! (Back to standing position. Repeat 
with right foot forward.) 



GOOD HEALTH GAMES 205 

Chopping wood. —Feet apart, JUMP: (As in the 
warming up exercise). 

Ax over right shoulder, PLACE! (Swing an imag¬ 
inary ax above right shoulder as if ready for a 
stroke.) 

(1) Swing ax downward and bend body for¬ 
ward, ONE! (Strike with ax as if chopping a 
tree.) 

(2) Raise body and return ax above shoulder, TWO! 
(Ready for another stroke.) 

Also in rhythm four times, BEGIN! (That is, repeat 
chopping blows four times, then come to posi¬ 
tion.) 

Repeat from left shoulder. 

Prancing of horses. —Hands on hips place and feet, 
CLOSE! (At CLOSE the hands are on hips, 
thumbs forward, feet close together, body in cor¬ 
rect standing position.) 

Left knee upward, BEND! (Lifting it high.) 

Prancing in rhythm, ten times, BEGIN! (As if run¬ 
ning, in place, knees lifting high.) 

Arms and feet, POSITION! (Correct standing posi¬ 
tion.) 


20 6 


HYGIENE AND HEALTH 


Deep breathing, —(Repeat from five to ten times.) 
Inhale with arms lifting sideward and heels rising, 
ONE! (Breathe in very slowly and deeply, beginning 
with ONE.) 

Exhale as arms and heels return, Two! (Slowly and 
as completely as possible.) 



An easy way to learn correct posture. 

Climbing the ladder. —Raise left hand and left foot 
to rungs of ladder in act of climbing, ONE! (Wait for 
ONE.) 

Position, TWO! (Be sure to hold first position until 
TWO is given.) 

Repeat in rhyme eight times, BEGIN! 

Also repeat with right hand and foot. 

Pumping a bicycle tire. —Feet apart, JUMP. 
(Jump into air, landing with feet well apart.) 







GOOD HEALTH GAMES 


207 


Imitate pumping, bending body forward and down¬ 
ward, ONE! (Bend well downward, pushing arms 
downward as if on bicycle pump at same time.) 

Raise body, TWO! (Body erect, feet still apart.) 

Also in rhythm, .eight times, BEGIN! (Continue for 
eight strokes, then erect, feet still apart.) 

Feet, POSITION! (Back to correct standing posi¬ 
tion.) 

Blowing feathers. —(Repeat five to ten times.) In¬ 
hale with head moving backward, ONE! (Slow¬ 
ly, and remember that the more air you take in 
the more you will have to blow out.) 

Blow hard, TWO! (As if blowing a feather from 
your lips high up in air, until your breath is all 
out.) 

Perhaps your teacher may give you still other exer¬ 
cises and games, for there are many that we have not 
room to print in the text. Possibly you can even make 
up some new ones yourself. But whatever you do make 
sure that you always play your games in pure , moving 


air . 


INDEX 


Accidents, ch. on, 187 

Adenoids, 92 

Air, and breathing, 88, 135 
dry, and breathing, 99 

t 

for the skin, 97 
living in pure, 95 
need of, 89 
open-air schools, 96 

Alcohol, ch. on, 184 
effects of, 185 

Bacteria, ch. on, 65 
and diseases, 69 
and food, 68, 72 

Bathing, need of, 123 
after games, 137 
rules for, 122 

Bleeding, stopping of, 188 

Blood, the circulation of, 105 

Breakfasts, right and wrong 
kinds, 52 
how to plan, 53 

Breathing, experiments in, 88 
getting short of breath, 106 

Bruises, how to treat, 190 

Burns, treatment of, 192 

Carbon dioxide, how produced, 90 
getting rid of, 90 

Chest, expansion of, 94 


Cigarettes, effects of, 180 

Clothing, ch. on, 127 
cleanliness of, 131 
materials for, 129 
requirements of, 128 

Colds, causes of, 120 
driving away, 121 

Dandruff, 156 

Dinners, how to plan, 54 

Disease, bacteria and, 69 
flies and, 78 
mosquitoes and, 83 

Dreams, 141 

Ears, ch. on, 174 
aching, 175 
protection of, 178 
structure of, 176 

Eating, experiments in, 51 
between meals, 61 
rules for, 59 

Energy, coming from food, 34 

Eyes, ch. on, 167 
accidents to, 167 
care of, 169 
diseases of, 170 
overworking, 168 
tests for, 173 


208 



INDEX—Continued 


Flies, ch. on, 77 
and disease, 78 
keeping out, 79 
preventing hatching, 79 
protecting food from, 78 

Food, and bacteria, 68, 72 

necessary kinds of, 38, 41 
likes and dislikes for, 62 
why the body needs, 32 
kinds to be omitted, 57 

Frost-bites, 193 

Fruit, as a food, 45 

Games, ch. on, 195 

Gastric juice, 5 ° 

Growth, bodily, 33 

Habit, ch. on, 1 

the forming of, 4 
friend-habits, 5 
enemy-habits, 6 

Hair, ch. on, 1 55 
care of, 157 
insects in, 158 

Health, ch. on, 16 

health “crusaders,” 22 
health “chores,” 26 

Hearing, detecting poor, 175 
causes of poor, 1 77 

Heart, the, ch. on, 104 

Heat, from food, 36 

regulation of bodily, 116 

Heredity, effect of on size, 20 

Hygiene, exercises in, 14, 20, 21, 
26, 30, 39 , 47 , 57 , 63, 70, 
76, 81, 87, 88, 93, 101, 108, 
113, 115, 121, 126, 132, 134 , 


209 

138, 143, 148, 153 , 159 , 165, 
172, 179, 183, 186, 194 

“Inspection,” school, 3 
class, 10 
personal, 10-15 

Lunch, school, 57 

Lungs, protecting the, 92 
size of, 91 
work of, 90 

Meals, planning of, 49 
good cheer at, 50 
playing before and after, 136 

Meat, as a food, 44 

Microbes, ch. on, 65 
and food, 68, 72 
where found, 65 
work of, 66 

Mosquitoes, ch. on, 83 
and disease, 83 
getting rid of, 85 

Nails, ch. on the, 161 
cleaning the, 163 
curing hang-nails, 162 
trimming the, 161 
toe, 164 

Oxygen, in the body, 90, 106 

Perspiration, 117, 119 

Pores, 119 

Posture, ch. on, 109 

harm from bad, 109 
sitting, in 
sleeping, 115 
standing, 114 

Ration, the balanced, 42 

Record blank, health, 29 


210 


INDEX—Concluded 


Rest, 139 

Saliva, 50 

Schools, open-air, 96 

Size, at different ages, 17 
things that affect, 19 

Skin, ch. on the, 116 
need of air for, 97 
cleanliness for, 122 
structure of, 118 
work of, 117 

Sleep, ch. on, 139 
habits of, 140 
out-of-door sleeping, 142 
posture in, 115 

Spine, curvature of, 112 

Sprains, 191 

Supper, how to plan the, 56 


Sweat glands, 119 

Teeth, the, ch. on, 144 
care of, 149 
crooked, 146 
dangers to, 153 
decayed, 147 

Temperature, in rooms, 100 

Tobacco, ch. on, 180 
poisons from, 181 
and success, 182 

Vegetables, as a food, 45 

Ventilation, rules for, 98 

Water, as a food, 46 

Wheat, as a food, 44 

Wounds, care of, 187 
punctured, 191 














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